Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 03/10/1994
NRHP Listing Date 05/26/1994
NRHP Reference Number 94000456
Aberdeen Gardens in the city of Hampton was established as a New Deal planned community for the African American workers of the Newport News and Hampton areas. Begun in 1934 and finished by 1937, the 440-acre development, the only Resettlement Administration community for blacks in Virginia, consisted of 158 single-family homes along with a school and a commercial center, all surrounded by a greenbelt for subsistence and truck farming. The project, initiated by Hampton Institute and funded by the U. S. Department of Interior’s Division of Subsistence Homesteads, was supervised by Howard University architect Hilyard R. Robinson. Though equipped with modern conveniences, the simple brick houses in the Aberdeen Gardens Historic District were intended to echo the local vernacular style. The project received national attention when visited by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1938. While expanded in the 1940s and ’50s, the neighborhood preserves its original orderly character and remains a symbol of African American pride.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: February 15, 2022
