Brown Grove: Preserving a Way of Life

Co-written by Michael Razavian. Edited by Fionnuala Fisk

150 years ago, formerly enslaved men and women from surrounding plantations came together to form a church and community in a part of Hanover County, Virginia now known as Brown Grove. Caroline Dobson Morris, the community’s founding matriarch, whose image is encapsulated in stained glass at Brown Grove Baptist Church, left the land for her descendants. Now, after years of corporate encroachment, those descendants and community members of Brown Grove face an existential threat from a 1.1 million square foot Wegmans distribution center.

McKinley Harris has lived in Brown Grove his entire life with the exception of the time he spent in the military. His family has been in Brown Grove for 150 years. When asked about the increase in corporate and private interests, he responded, “[Brown Grove] has been mistreated, overlooked, ran over.“ (Photo by Vijay Iyer)

In the last 50 years, the historically Black community of Brown Grove has seen numerous instances of industrial encroachment. This quiet, close-knit community is now teaming with commercial truck traffic, mostly coming from CP&P, a concrete manufacturing facility, as well as the Ashcake Landfill, a large landfill located on the narrow road leading to Brown Grove. Additionally, Brown Grove is now home to the Hanover County Municipal Airport which in 2000, uprooted several families from their homes during an expansion of their airstrip on Johnsontown Road.

Helen J. King, 83, has lived here her whole life. She was one of the several residents that needed to move due to the extension of the airstrip. When asked about how the arrival of these private industries made her feel, she responded, “It makes me feel awful because I’ve lived in this community all my life, and someone just comes in and takes over, and they make all the claims then tell you about it after the claims are made.” (Photo by Vijay Iyer)

After enduring 50 years of industrial encroachment, Brown Grove now faces a new challenge in the approaching Wegmans distribution center which threatens the existence of this historic community due to its scale and environmental impact. The distribution center is not a grocery store. The center will span more than 21 football fields and will distribute goods to Wegmans’ southernmost retail stores, serving the mid-Atlantic region south of Pennsylvania. The proposed site is set to wrap around Brown Grove, building roads and infrastructure just feet away from residential homes. As of the current proposal, the residents won’t receive opportunities or resources from Wegmans as a result of the project.

One former resident, Kimberly Coleman, spoke on some of her initial reactions when she first heard of Wegmans’ interest in Brown Grove,

“Concerns for the overall community as a whole, in terms of the traffic flow, you know, the volume, the community — those who still live in the community being impacted in terms of their living situation. Are they going to have to move? Like they did with the airport expansion project. So, I mean, all of that is a concern to me. Like what is going to happen to the neighborhood, the Brown Grove community?”

Kimberly Coleman, a former resident of Brown Grove, moved to Glen Allen due to the extension of the airstrip. (Photo by Renada Harris)

The proposed distribution site will destroy 14.8 acres of wetlands, an unusual amount for a single construction project. These wetlands are responsible for collecting much of the rainwater in Brown Grove and serve as habitats for wildlife, namely the bald eagle. Community members have frequently spotted the eagles onsite along with coyotes and other forest wildlife.

Another concern is pollution coming from the construction and operation of the facility. Since the facility will operate 24 hours a day, residents have raised concerns regarding the noise, light, and sound levels coming from the facility. Trucking is another concern. Due to the facility’s operations, trucks will be moving to and from the facility during all hours of the day. Increased trucking has also raised issues for the integrity of Ashcake Road, as the road is too narrow to accommodate the volume of trucks that will be passing through it on a daily basis. Many elderly residents believe that the increased trucking will affect the air quality around Brown Grove. Since the community is in a forest, air tends to be cleaner, but with the arrival of increased trucking and facility operations, they fear that this may change.

James E. Lewis, 61, has lived in Brown Grove his whole life. The airport that was built never notified him that they were building a water line on part of his property. (Photo by Renada Harris)

For an area already afflicted with water drainage issues, the removal of wetlands will cause further damage to the surrounding residential areas and roads. Ashcake Road, one of the main roads throughout Brown Grove, experiences chronic flooding during storms and light rains. Martha Jones, a long time resident states,

“When I come to church, many times after [the] rain I have to drive in the middle which means that I’m on both sides of the yellow lines,and that’s not just the flooding; that’s just with really hard rain.”

Without the critical protection of the surrounding wetlands, roads like Ashcake will face excess rainwater, potentially flooding residential houses and making driving conditions more precarious for the community’s residents.

Mary Wilson, a resident of Brown Grove believes that everyone here is her family. When asked if Brown Grove has been mistreated by commercial interests, she said, “I feel because this is basically an African American community, they think they can do anything they want and take everything away from them, and away from me, because when they take away from Brown Grove, that takes away from me.”

Many members of Brown Grove are elderly individuals and have raised concerns regarding health and safety. They feel that their health may be affected by the increase in flooding along with the increase in air pollution that may follow the appearance of this distribution center. There are also numerous research articles that suggest that increased industrialization adversely affects air quality. Some residents also get their water from springs or wells in the area and fear that the increase in industrial development could potentially affect their water quality.

Beyond just the environmental concerns, the wetlands on the proposed site are thought to house unmarked graves from founding members of Brown Grove. Much of the current community members’ ancestry can be traced back to the founding members and Caroline Dobson Morris herself. Lifelong resident Charles Tyler remembers learning about Morris and the origins of Brown Grove,

“Yeah, I was taught that, you know, the lady Miss Caroline Morris, that mostly everything around here is connected to her in some type of way”.

Charles R. Tyler, 86, has lived in Brown Grove his entire life. Regarding the construction of Wegmans, he responded, “when they call us to Hanover to ask us questions and things, like you asking me now, they already passed that bill for them to do whatever they’re going to do.” (Photo by Vijay Iyer)

Allegations of historic unmarked graves require investigation, and many residents believe that they will not be consulted about the fate of the alleged graves. There have been calls by the members of the community to conduct investigations around the old Brown Grove church, the ruins of which are thought to be on the proposed site, since many believe that the dead may have been buried there.

“Born and raised in the neighborhood. My great great grandfather and grandmother, great grandmother, my grandfather, [and] my parents all were raised here or lived here in this neighborhood.” — Leizer L. Coleman

Bonnie Harris Cotman (left) and Elizabeth Harris (right) trace their lineage back to Caroline Dobson Morris. Bonnie has vocally opposed the construction of the Wegman’s Facility. (Photo By Vijay Iyer)

“Caroline Morris, from what I understand, is buried on that property.” - Bonnie Harris Cotman

Renada Harris Mickens, Bonnie’s sister, believes that Brown Grove has been mistreated for too long and is also a vocal dissenter of the Wegmans facility. When asked how Wegmans weighs moral responsibility and monetary gain, she responded, “It’s shown in history that money, money rules over everything”. (Photo by Vijay Iyer)

“People feel powerless” - Renada Harris Mickens

Many feel that their concerns aren’t being met with the seriousness they deserve. There have been calls by the residents to get a formal archeological investigation underway to definitively prove the graves exist. No comprehensive investigations have occurred as of yet. Their local representatives have yet to push for investigations from Air Park Associates, the owners of the property, or Wegmans.

Keishanna James traces her lineage back to Caroline Dobson Morris through her father. “It’s easy to live outside of the community and seeing big corporations bringing jobs to the area, but if it was in your backyard, put yourself in our shoes and see how that would make you feel.” (Photo by Vijay Iyer)

Carolyn Blake and Kenny Dendy have attested to unmarked graves being present in the proposed site and went on to suggest that the old church must have people buried around its grounds since that was the only place to bury the dead back then.

Kenny Dendy, 54, has been living in Brown Grove for most of his life. When asked about what Brown Grove meant to him, he responded, “it means a lot to me; [when] Wegmans comes it won’t be the same anymore”. (Photo by Vijay Iyer)

Broadly speaking, many residents feel as though their representatives only address them when it’s convenient for them. Calls for better infrastructure and road management have gone unheard, with many believing that the distribution facility will be built despite outcry from the community and activist organizations. Carolyn Blake, a resident of the community, feels that their representatives would only care if they were also in a similar situation,

Carolyn Blake, 66, has lived in Brown Grove her entire life. She strongly believes that Brown Grove is not being represented and that private interests dominate the area. “I am a diabetic, I have bad allergies, I’m allergic to everything, so you know it would be bad for Wegmans to come over here. It would be bad for my health.” (Photo by Renada Harris)

“They aren’t thinking about us, our health problems and everything. If they came to us from the beginning they would’ve known that [we didn’t want the distribution center] before they came forward with it [the project], and I just want to tell them one thing. What would you do if it was you, if it were your parents living over here, would you allow it? That’s all I want to say about that, would you want it over here? Would you fight for it?”

The project has been marred by errors on the part of state officials. When mapping the land for construction, wetland delineations are done to determine the amount of wetlands in an area. The first delineation for the proposed site recorded 33.8 acres of wetlands and was done during a drought in October 2019 by RK&K, a civil engineering service. The Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) then issued its own assessment for the proposed site and reduced the recorded wetland area by 12.5 acres without justification. This is significant since the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) accepted USACE’s assessment even though they didn’t provide a justification for why 12.5 acres of wetlands were missing. Wegmans also claimed 6.12 acres of wetlands were to be destroyed based on USACE’s assessment, which was also incorrect. This means that the project moved forward with incorrect information provided by USACE and accepted by DEQ.

The creek past the surveyor tape in the backyard of McKinley Harris and Elizabeth Harris’ home. (Photos by Vijay Iyer)

Following the first delineation, outcry came from residents and local activist groups, citing that the delineation was incorrect. The Army Corps of Engineers finally performed another delineation and found the “missing” wetlands which totaled 33.8 acres. Wegmans then admitted that they intend to destroy around 15 acres as opposed to the 6 acres that were originally proposed.

These three are among many others that believe Brown Grove has been adversely affected by private industry. Kathy Woodcock (left), 56, said “I think there’s been a general disregard that there is a community here. That people live here. That they have a history here.” Edith Coman (middle), 84, has lived in Brown Grove her entire life and said, “I sort of feel like it has been on account of the traffic, it’s the increase in traffic, you know, and I don’t know, it just it’s like brown grove isn’t the same brown grove.” Thomas Hancock (right), 68, also said, “Yes, I don’t think they ought to bring something [private interests] here that will back up to all our properties. I think that’s wrong.” (Photos by Renada Harris)

Brown Grove has been feeling powerless and underrepresented for too long, a sentiment that is shared among other historically Black communities that do not have access to economic power or representation. In the last decade, there have been multiple instances of environmental injustice that have disproportionately targeted Black communities in Virginia. This has been seen with projects including the ACP compressor station, Gidley compressor station, Chickahominy power station, and C4GT power plant. Notable examples from out of state also include the Flint water crisis and the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Nancy Terrell (left), 66, was born and raised in Hanover County. She has seen issues around Brown Grove in the newspaper, but not TV. Tracy Nicolas (right) said, “There are graves on Johnsontown Road. I know there is a gravesite back there because I have a grandfather and a grandmother, and some uncles that were buried there, but you would never know it unless you were a member of the family.” (Photos by Renada Harris)

One unusual victory against environmental racism provides a way to overcome these injustices. Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline was set to go through Union Hill, another historically Black community. Their initial plan of building through a predominantly white neighborhood was received with backlash. Dominion Energy then rerouted the pipeline’s compressor station to go through Union Hill. Union Hill, along with other communities in the path of the would-be pipeline, organized with Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit environmental organization, to fight back by holding rallies and staging protests. With their collective voices, they were able to muster the monetary resources to lobby against the pipeline and successfully pressure Dominion Energy to stop its development. These groups also launched a legal battle against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which garnered significant media attention. The Virginia Court of Appeals struck down the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Union Hill survived.

Residents that would be affected by Wegmans. (Photos by Vijay Iyer)

What Brown Grove needs now is individuals and organizations who value the environment and the preservation of our history to mount a vocal defense against Wegmans. In collaboration with Protect Hanover, Sunrise Richmond, and the people of Brown Grove, there is a chance that with significant organization, Brown Grove will be heard.