The Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground, known historically as the "Burial Ground for Negroes" and the "old Powder Magazine ground", is the older of two municipal burial grounds established for the interment of free people of color and the enslaved in the city of Richmond, Virginia. It is located at 1554 E Broad St. (alternate address 1520 E Marshall St.), across from the site of Lumpkin's Jail, in Shockoe Bottom. The area now known as Shockoe Bottom, was historically known as Shockoe Valley. Richmond's second African Burial Ground, called the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground is the larger of the two burial grounds, and is located a mile and a half away at 1305 N 5th St, on Shockoe Hill.

History

The Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground was thought to have been established as early as 1750, however a land deed for the property supports a 1799 founding.Smith, Ryan K., "Death & Rebirth in a Southern City, Richmond's Historic Cemeteries", Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020Hong, Mai-Linh. Get Your Asphalt Off My Ancestors!: Reclaiming Richmond's African Burial Ground." Journal of Law, Culture, and the Humanities (2013) : 1-23. It was closed to new burials in 1816 upon the opening of the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground (Richmond's 2nd African Burial Ground) located at 1305 N 5th St.Mouer, McQueen, Smith, Thompson, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Historic District DHR #127-7231

In 1799, the city of Richmond acquired two parcels of land to establish municipal burial grounds. A 28 1/2-acre plot on the northern end of Shockoe Hill, straddling the boundary between the city and Henrico County, was purchased primarily for the burial of white individuals, among other purposes.Mouer, McQueen, Smith, Thompson, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Historic District DHR #127-7231 A smaller parcel in Shockoe Valley (later known as Shockoe Bottom) was designated for the interment of Black individuals. This was referred to as the "Burial Ground for Negroes" on the 1809 Plan of the City of Richmond by Richard Young, and is now recognized as the Shockoe Bottom African Burying Ground.Young, Richard, 1809 Plan of the City of Richmond, Library of Virginia, Google Arts & Culture This site later served as the location for the city gallows after 1804 and, according to the 1809 plan, housed a powder magazine. In the same year, 1799, the city added two lots for public burials of white individuals to St. John’s Church.Smith, Ryan K,., "St. John's Churchyard", Richmond Cemeteries

Following the rediscovery of the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground by Elizabeth Kambourian in the 1990s, it was initially believed to be the site where Gabriel, the leader of a planned 1800 slave rebellion (known as Gabriel's Rebellion or Gabriel's Conspiracy), and some of his followers were executed and buried.Dovi, Chris, "Breaking the Surface", Richmond Magazine, September 27, 2011Pourzal, Jonathan, NPR, Texas Public Radio,"The Root: The Sad History Of Cemented Cemeteries", May 23, 2011Chapman, Ellen “They Had Perfect Knowledge of…This Offensive Place”: Burial Grounds and Archaeological Human Remains in Richmond's Public Discourse However, subsequent research indicated that these executions occurred at different location(s).Nicholls, Michael L., "Whispers of Rebellion, Narrating Gabriel's Conspiracy", pages 85-86, 206-207, University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville and London, 2012Smith, Ryan K., "Death & Rebirth in a Southern City, Richmond's Historic Cemeteries", Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020 Gabriel and those of his followers who were executed within the city were reportedly hanged on Gallows Hill, at the “usual place” near the intersection of 1st Street and Canal Street, which was the customary place of execution at that time.Nicholls, Michael L., "Whispers of Rebellion, Narrating Gabriel's Conspiracy", pages 85-86, 206-207, University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville and London, 2012Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project,"Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground"Nicholls, Michael L., Gabriel’s Conspiracy (1800), Encyclopedia of VirginiaMordecai, Samuel, "Virginia, especially Richmond,in Bygone Days: with a glance at the present: being reminiscences and last words of an old citizen / by Samuel Mordecai.", pg 98, West & Johnston, Richmond, VA 1860 An 1871 newspaper article, featured on the front page of the Daily Dispatch, stated that Gabriel and others involved in the insurrection were buried in a burying ground primarily for Black individuals attached to the "old Baptist Church".Daily Dispatch, ""THE HUMAN BONES ON THE CORNER OF FIRST AND CARY STREETS. Whose They May Have Been. THE GABRIEL NEGRO INSURRECTION", Volume 40, Number 102, 29 April 1871, Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia: Digital Newspaper Archive This church, originally established as the Richmond Baptist Church (now First Baptist Church) in 1780, had its original meeting house on the north side of Cary Street, near the northeast corner of Cary and Second Streets.McCarthy, Carlton, "The First Century of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia 1780-1880", 1880, Google Books A section of property associated with the church, specifically Lot #659 at the corner of Cary and 3rd Streets, was later owned by Col. John Coke.Beers, F. W. Illustrated atlas of the city of Richmond, Va. [Richmond, Va.: F. W. Beers, 1877] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3884rm.gct00070/?sp=13&st=image&r=0.066,0.418,0.209,0.107,0>.McCarthy, Carlton, "The First Century of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia 1780-1880", 1880, Google Books Human remains discovered during the construction of Col. Coke's house on this portion of Lot #659 in 1871 led to speculation in the newspaper article that these could be the bones of Gabriel, Solomon, and Peter, given that they were stated to be buried in the “old Baptist Church” burying ground located a couple of blocks away from the site of execution.Daily Dispatch, ""THE HUMAN BONES ON THE CORNER OF FIRST AND CARY STREETS. Whose They May Have Been. THE GABRIEL NEGRO INSURRECTION", Volume 40, Number 102, 29 April 1871, Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia: Digital Newspaper ArchiveWalthall, Ernest Taylor "Hidden Things Brought to Light", page 33, Richmond, VA, Press of the Dietz Printing Company 1933Smith, Ryan K., "Death & Rebirth in a Southern City, Richmond's Historic Cemeteries", Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project,"Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground"

The Burial Ground for Negroes (now Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground) was established along Shockoe Creek, but its location was unsuitable for burials. Each hard rain caused disruption, washing bodies into the creek. Christopher McPherson, a formerly enslaved free person of color, described the challenging conditions in his book, A Short History of the Life of Christopher McPherson, Alias Pherson, Son of Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Containing a Collection of Certificates, Letters, &c. Written by Himself, which was published in 1811 and republished in 1855.McPherson, Christopher, A Short History of the Life of Christopher McPherson, Alias Pherson, Son of Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Containing a Collection of Certificates, Letters, &c. Written by Himself. Lynchburg, VA: Christopher McPherson Smith. Printed at The Virginian Job Office, 1855. McPherson wrote and circulated a petition to the Richmond City Council requesting a new burial ground for free people of color in Richmond. This led to the establishment of two new burying grounds on Shockoe Hill in 1816: the Burying Ground for Free People of Colour and the Burying Ground for Negroes (enslaved). These are now part of the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground.Mouer, McQueen, Smith, Thompson, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Historic District DHR #127-7231 Upon the opening of the Shockoe Hill burying grounds, the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground closed to new burials and was repurposed, resulting in the destruction of graves. A Lancastrian School was constructed on the site in 1816, and the city jail was also built there later.Worsham, Gibson & Worsham Richard, Urban Scale Richmond, "The Location of Richmond’s first African-American Burial Ground", December 3, 2015Bates, Micajah (1835). "Plan of the City of Richmond Drawn From Actual Survey and Regional Plans". University of Virginia. The burial ground disappeared from the visible landscape and from memory.Bates, Micajah (1835). "Plan of the City of Richmond Drawn From Actual Survey and Regional Plans". University of Virginia. Local historian Elizabeth Kambourian rediscovered it on a map in the 1990s. Approximately in 2004, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) acquired the Shockoe Bottom site, then a parking lot.Utsey, Shawn, Director, "Meet Me In The Bottom: The Struggle to Reclaim Richmond's African Burial Ground", produced by Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of African American Studies and Burn Baby Burn Productions, 2011. This acquisition prompted activism and the formation of groups such as the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project.Utsey, Shawn, Director, "Meet Me In The Bottom: The Struggle to Reclaim Richmond's African Burial Ground", produced by Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of African American Studies and Burn Baby Burn Productions, 2011. The Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project advocates for the reclamation and proper stewardship of the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground.McNeill, Brian, Ana Edwards is preserving Black history — and sharing it with others", VCUnews, Feb. 23, 2021

Commemoration

Public acknowledgment of the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground, which was then covered with asphalt, began during the Elegba Folklore Society's Juneteenth, A Freedom Celebration in 2002 or potentially earlier.monthlyreview.org Defenders Publications, Inc., The Case for Reclaiming Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom, September 23, 2009, https://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/ShockoeBottomTourBrochure.pdf]Edlund,Alexa Welch "From the Archives: Elegba Folklore Society celebrates its 25th Juneteenth", Richmond Times Dispatch, Jun 19, 2025 This commemoration annually recognizes the history and significance of the Trail of Enslaved Africans and the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground. Additionally, the Elegba Folklore Society guides cultural history tours that include a "tribute" to this burial ground.monthlyreview.org Defenders Publications, Inc., The Case for Reclaiming Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom, September 23, 2009, https://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/ShockoeBottomTourBrochure.pdf]

The Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, a project of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, hosts an annual community gathering, known as the Gabriel Gathering, each October at the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground. The event recognizes Gabriel, a key figure in the 1800 slave rebellion, and commemorates those involved.Defenders, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project: Richmond African Burial GroundVirginia Defender Staff Report, "DEFYING RAIN, 18th ANNUAL GATHERING HONORS GABRIEL & PROMOTES SHOCKOE BOTTOM MEMORIAL PARK", The Virginia Defender, October 12, 2020 Participants also focus on interpreting the history of the site and advocating for the reclamation and commemoration of Shockoe Bottom, highlighting its historical significance as a center of the U.S. domestic slave trade.Defenders, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project: Richmond African Burial GroundBass, Scott, "Nice Shot: Illumination and Reclamation, The 20th annual Gabriel Gathering at the African Burial Ground in Shockoe Bottom", Richmond Magazine, November 8, 2022