Beginning in fall 2024, the Urban Heritage Project is working on a project to tell the story of the historic Hickory Ridge community in Prince William County, Virginia. We invite anyone with connections to the displaced community of Hickory Ridge to contact us.

Before the creation of the Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area (RDA) in 1936, and the subsequent establishment of Prince William Forest Park, this area of Prince William County, Virginia was home to several communities and scattered farmsteads, including the historically integrated community of Hickory Ridge. Residents and community members were eventually displaced by the RDA/park, which completely encompasses the historic boundaries of Hickory Ridge.

The primary intention of this project is to conduct on-the-ground research and archeological fieldwork, informed by community memory and oral histories of Hickory Ridge.

The Urban Heritage Project will be conducting archival research and community outreach to inform an archeological study led by the firm of AECOM. The project will include a site walk with descendant community members and public archeology days in 2025, and will inform new interpretive installations at Prince William Forest Park.

For more information about the project, or to share any information about the historic Hickory Ridge community, contact project manager Molly Lester at MarLes@upenn.edu.

Header image: An artist's rendition of the Zeal Williams homestead. Zeal Williams was the first African American landowner in Hickory Ridge. (Image from https://www.nps.gov/prwi/learn/historyculture/african-american.htm.)