A family cemetery associated with the historic community of Hickory Ridge. (Photo by Jacob Torkelson, 2025)
A set of stone steps that once led to a homestead within the community of Hickory Ridge. (Photo by Jacob Torkelson, 2025)
Daffodils and other plantings were established by residents of the Hickory Ridge community, before their displacement in the mid-20th century. (Photo by Jacob Torkelson, 2025)
The Urban Heritage Project (part of the Preservation Research Collaborative at Penn) is working on a public outreach study with descendants of the Hickory Ridge community in Virginia. Hickory Ridge was a racially integrated community that was displaced and largely erased for the creation of Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area, now known as Prince William Forest Park (part of the National Park Service). The UHP team is working to document and interpret landscape traces of historic homesteads, in cooperation with Hickory Ridge descendants, local communities, and park staff. This research combines archival study, GIS mapping, oral history interviews, and design/treatment recommendations to support future interpretation and preservation of this historic cultural landscape.
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