It’s now a place for healing, with doctors, nurses and therapists tending to patients.
But from the 1940s through the early 1970s, the site drew crowds celebrating food, music, dancing and sports. If you were lucky enough to visit on the right day, you could’ve seen Dinah Washington, B.B. King or James Brown.
The spot where Stafford Hospital now sits in central Stafford along U.S. 1 was once home to Walker’s Inn, a gathering place for the Black community in the county and beyond.
It’s also stop No. 17 on Stafford’s newly launched African American Heritage Trail, a tour of historical sites that can be experienced either from your car or while in front of the computer.
The trail was created by Discover Stafford and historians and community elders working with the University of Mary Washington’s Geography Department. It comprises 31 stories at 23 sites and spans a period of 300 years of Black history in Stafford County.
“This project is a testament to the collaborative efforts of many community organizations, including the Walker family, Stafford Hospital and Stafford County Board of Supervisors,” Xavier Richardson, Mary Washington Healthcare’s chief development officer and president of the Mary Washington and Stafford Hospital foundations, said in an announcement of the historical marker. “It is our honor to bring this important piece of history to light and to celebrate the rich heritage of our community.”
Stafford County and Stafford Hospital officials are planning a reception next month to celebrate the Walker family, the launch of the digital trail and the related partnership of community organizations.
But touring motorists and others can access the trail now to find out more about, for example, the Stafford All Stars, the county’s African American Baseball team that competed at Walker’s Inn.
According to the trail’s narrative: “It was here that they would play games against other African American teams from all around, drawing in crowds to watch and enjoy the games, all while enjoying the inn’s drinks and food,”
Trailgoers also can learn about Henry “Box” Brown’s connection to Stafford.
Brown came through the county on March 29, 1849, as he escaped from slavery in Richmond to freedom in Philadelphia. He famously spent 27 hours in a 3x2x2½ foot Express Mail wooden box that was transported 350 miles by wagon, train and steamboat.
“Beginning in 1842, Aquia Landing was a slave transport route to the South, as well as the funnel to the North for many escaped or emancipated people before and during the Civil War,” reads the trail narrative, “but Brown is among the few whose names and stories we know in detail.”
Another stop brings a sober reminder of the hate that has often been preached in the South.
It notes that on August 28, 1966, the Klu Klux Klan organized what would be the first of four rallies in Stafford. It was held in a field across from Bethlehem Primitive Church, where Stafford’s NAACP began, and it drew a crowd of about 400.
At the rally, the Klan criticized the civil rights movement and supported white supremacy, the tour stop says. The speakers also made light of the killing of African Americans while trying to say they were part of a “peaceful” organization.
However, the narrative says, “The rally did not have the desired effect, with most people attending out of morbid curiosity rather than truly believing the Klan’s message.”
Sue Henderson, former executive director of Discover Stafford Museum and Cultural Center, said the heritage trail’s beginnings go back to the time of the pandemic. Discover Stafford was revamping its website, and officials realized they weren’t highlighting enough about the county’s diversity.
Also, Discover Stafford was working with the Stafford NAACP on Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Day celebrations, and Henderson was chatting with others in the history community.
“I’m going, ‘I don’t understand. How did Martin Luther King’s whole cadre come from the South and not come through Stafford? And how do we not know anybody from Stafford that attended the March on Washington? That just doesn’t make any sense,’” Henderson said.
So, she and her colleagues went looking for those stories and others. Henderson knew that there were tales that hadn’t been pulled together or properly told and probably a lot more that weren’t well known.
“It all kind of came together to say, ‘Well, this is crazy. We need an African American heritage trail,’” she said.
Then, in late 2023, Henderson connected with UMW Geography Professor Stephen P. Hanna, who signed up some of his students to be interns on a trail project.
“And then we put together a group of elders and historians and members of the African American community in Stafford County and threw a whole bunch of ideas into the hopper, and then we’ve worked on it ever since,” Henderson said.
Stafford’s Board of Supervisors commemorated the heritage trail’s launch at its meeting Tuesday. Board Chairman Deuntay Diggs and Vice Chairwoman Tinesha Allen, the first African Americans to serve together in the chair and vice chair roles, appeared in a short video highlighting the tourism feature.
“We encourage everyone to take the tour, share the stories and remember the importance of honoring the contributions of African Americans at Stafford,” Allen said in the video.
Mary Washington Healthcare, an individual or organization central to this story, is a major donor to the Free Press. Donors do not influence newsroom operations.
