Title
Resolution designating Warnersville as a Heritage Community
Body
Department: Planning, Libraries
Council District: 1
Public Hearing: N/A
Advertising Date/By: N/A
Contact 1 and Phone: Mike Cowhig, 373-2755
Contact 2 and Phone: Jon Zachman, 373-4589
PURPOSE:
Resolution designating the Warnersville Neighborhood as a Heritage Community.
BACKGROUND:
The Warnersville neighborhood is the first to request designation as a Heritage Community under the new recognition program approved by Council at the June 23, 2015 meeting. A complete application and supporting materials are attached.
At their June 27th meeting, the Historic Preservation Commission unanimously recommended designation of the Warnersville Neighborhood as a Heritage Community. The area proposed for designation is bounded by the North Carolina railroad to the north, Silver Avenue to the west, Florida Street to the south, and South Elm Street to the east.
The Statement of Significance relays the importance of the Warnersville neighborhood: “There is a tremendous sense of pride among most people who have grown up or lived in the Warnersville neighborhood, pride in a place rooted in local African American history that began after the Civil War”.
Warnersville is recognized today as the first planned African American community in Greensboro. This year the community will proudly celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1865. This neighborhood provided the opportunity for African Americans, including former slaves, to own property and businesses to thrive in a tight knit community. From the original land purchased in 1865 that eventually came to be called Warnersville a strong sense of community emerged and persevered among the residents who survived segregation, the civil rights movement, urban renewal, and redevelopment. A century later, most of the buildings and structures erected in the community were demolished during urban renewal activities in the 1960’s. Delcie Washington Gladeney, a Warnersville resident, recalled, “We really fought redevelopment, because our history was being torn down.”
The loss of this original historic fabric makes the area ineligible under traditional methods of recognition like local historic district designation or listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Through a collaborative project between Warnersville Community groups and the Greensboro Historical Museum, a temporary exhibit at the museum was developed that highlights its history through artifacts, oral histories, maps and photographs of early leaders like Yardley Warner, who first purchased the land, and Harmon Unthank, who came to be the first African American bank director in Greensboro.
Heritage Community designation is commemorative and educational in nature. This recognition has no effect on property rights, zoning, or taxation. There is no regulatory component to the designation.
BUDGET IMPACT:
None.
RECOMMENDATION / ACTION REQUESTED:
Staff recommends approval of the resolution.