Historic Seatack community in Virginia Beach earns state landmark recognition
VIRGINIA BEACH — One of the city’s oldest Black communities has been formally listed as a historic district, landing a spot on the Virginia Landmarks Register.
Seatack, a neighborhood about a mile west of the Oceanfront, has roots dating back more than 200 years. It will be considered next for a national distinction.
Historians surmise Seatack likely emerged in Princess Anne County before the Civil War as a small farming community, according to the nomination form the city submitted to the Virginia Board of Historic Resources. Early Seatack residents can be traced back to the Williams family, who owned about 100 acres along what is now Birdneck Road. Over time, the Williamses divided the property, and subsequent generations helped develop Seatack.
Mount Olive Church on Birdneck Road was founded in 1894 in a one-room building, which was later used to house the first Seatack school. In the early 20th century, the Princess Anne County School Board didn’t provide schools for Black communities.
“It’s been such a self-sufficient community because it had to be, and they were capable of doing it,” said Mark Reed, Virginia Beach’s historic preservation planner. “When the county wouldn’t build a school for them, they went ahead and established a school. When other fire departments would charge them $50 to make a fire call into Seatack, they established their own fire department.”
Seatack has faced other challenges over the years, including commercial development encroaching into the residential area. Residents of Seatack have been the biggest advocates for keeping its core intact. The landmark designation is important for its future, said Tammie Mullins-Rice, past president of Seatack Civic League.
“It will certainly help us as we move forward trying to maintain our community,” Mullins-Rice said. “It’s something we can certainly remind the city of — that we’re a historic community.”
Virginia Beach received an underrepresented communities grant from the National Park Service to submit the state and national register applications for L&J Gardens and Seatack.
The grant program focuses on documenting the homes, lives, landscapes and experiences of underrepresented people who played a significant role in the nation’s history. A consulting firm, working with local historians, prepared extensive reports on each neighborhood.
Last year, L&J Gardens, a subdivision of Wesleyan Drive and Northampton Boulevard, was the first of the two accepted into the state historic register, which occurs before consideration for the national one. Black owners and developers planned L&J Gardens, which Black contractors built. The community attracted middle-class Black families who faced limited options due to segregation and discriminatory housing practices.
Seatack will next be considered for the National Register of Historic Places.
Listings in the Virginia and national historic registers are honorary distinctions and don’t impose restrictions or provide protection for properties located in historic districts.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
