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Use
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Belief 3 -
Reading 21 of 31 |
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Navigate within this
Belief: Reading
20 << >> Reading
22 |
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Additional Beliefs: Belief 1
Belief 2 Belief 3 Belief 4 Belief
5 Belief 6
Belief 7 Belief 8 |
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Harper's Weekly, September 30,
1865, pages 613-614 (Article) |
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| The visitor to the site of what was
once the little village of Hampton, Va., burned by the rebels in the winter of 1861, will
see little to remind him of the place as it existed before the war. The ruins of the
little brick church are the only token of the former times. Hampton is now peopled chiefly
by freedmen, who number about four thousand, most of whom occupy the interesting little
village known as Slabtown, of which we give a sketch on this page. |
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| As in all instances where negroes
are gathered together into communities, there are in Slabtown features of curious
interest. There is a general uniformity both in the material and style of the
architecture, the dwellings being built of rough barrel-staves, or slabs split out with
the axe. The houses are of one story, without attic or basement. Shoe-shops and
restaurants are built on the same plan, a few feet reduced. Residences of the higher class
of people are marked by a blanket partition and illustrated newspaper hanging on the
walls. There are two or three public squares, which would probably not compete with the
Boston Common. Their stagnant ponds are lined with old boots, bottles, and other refuse.
Notwithstanding this latter circumstance of the stagnant pools, the people enjoy good
health. How all these people support themselves is a mystery to the visitor. An unusual
proportion of the negroes are brought up to shoemaking. Some sell tobacco and beer, though
it is a miracle where so many buyers come from in a community where every body seems to
have for sale the same articles. What with fishing, doing odd jobs here and there for the
farmers up the Peninsula, blacking boots, selling lemonade to soldiers, working in the
quarter-master’s department, the denizens of Slabtown manage to exist and enjoy
whatever there is of comfort at Old Point, which, as a watering-place for white people,
will not revive for many years. |
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| Harper's Weekly,
September 30, 1865, pages 613-614 (Article) |
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