Vinegar Hill Monument

Vinegar Hill is a neighborhood that no longer exists. It was an African American neighborhood full of African American owned homes and businesses just west of the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA that was razed to the ground by the City of Charlottesville in 1964.

During the City wide Dialogue on Race 6 years ago, the 600 participants decided that a monument to Vinegar Hill should be built. They have been raising funds for the monument ever since. They received a grant from the NEA and now hope to raise the rest of the funds needed to install the monument.

The city of Charlottesville needs, now more than ever, more monuments to its diverse history.

New York-based sculptor, Melvin Edwards, internationally and nationally renowned for his work describing the African American experience, has made a maquette of the monument...

The full size version will take a year to assemble and be at least 12 feet tall. It will be built from 10,000 to 12,000 pounds of stainless steel at an industrial fabrication facility. The monument, when it is funded and completed, will be placed outdoors on the grounds of the Jefferson School at 233 4th st NW in Charlottesville, VA.


A scale depiction of what the monument will look like.


The Jefferson School was founded in 1865 as an African-American graded public school. Until 1926 African Americans could not go to high school. The monument will be placed on the grounds of the high school that began the march toward democratic education. The school closed its doors in 2002. In January 2013, a historic restoration project was completed, creating a home for community nonprofits which includes an African American Heritage Center as its cornerstone entity.

The money you donate will go to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center to fund the creation and installation of the Vinegar Hill Monument.

Any funds raised beyond those needed to create and install the monument will be used to create public programming at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.