Fulton Roots

[Spencer Armstead]

Long-Dead Indian Returns, Guards His Heritage

By Bill Wasson

Spencer Armstead says he won't mind if people think he's crazy...

Armstead says he and eight boyhood friends will stop urban renewal's bulldozers before they raze what little is left of Fulton Bottom, where Armstead was born 27 years ago.

"Some black folks say you've got to go back to Africa to find your roots," Armstead said. "Anytime I want to feel a little roots, I just walk up the stairs into the room I was born in."

Spencer Armstead

That he devised a plan that might save his and his mother's birthplace and the church in which his grandmother's funeral was held confirms both his intelligence and his Indian heritage, he said...

Armstead and his friends have established Together Inc., a nonprofit corporation through which they hope to raise money and fight the destruction of "unrenewed" Fulton.

Together Inc.'s board of directors includes students, factory workers, a bank employee and a Richmond fireman. They grew up together and still play softball together.

They share with Armstead the desire to live in Fulton and the faith in the idea that restoration in Fulton is no less possible than restoration in Shockoe Slip, the Fan District and Church Hill.

Richmond Mayor Henry L. Marsh III described Fulton as one of the worst slums anywhere before urban renewal began there about 10 years ago.

Armstead's home is at 702 Denny St. His grandparents bought the house there in 1926. He lives there with his mother, who owns the house.

His grandfather's funeral was held in the house. His grandmother's was held a block up Denny Street at Rising Mount Zion Baptist Church.

Rising Mount Zion Baptist Church

Although the church's congregation has moved, the 108-year-old building still stands. Together Inc. wants to keep it that way.

The house in which Armstead and his mother live is one of nine row houses built early in this century.

"These houses are distinguished not only by their individual merits and sturdy construction, but by the cumulative effect of the row," wrote Dell Upton, an architectural historian with the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission.

Upton inspected the houses last February while many still were occupied and before the worst effects of copper-and-brick-scavenging vandals became evident.

"It was evident from my examination that the houses were sturdy buildings and not seriously deteriorated," Upton continued. "Minimal rehabilitation could easily render them superior to any modern structures with which they might be replaced.

"For these reasons, it seems clear to us that the brick row in the 700 block Denny St. is eminently worthy of preservation and that no reasonable argument can be made for its condemnation and demolition," Upton concluded.

The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority's $20 million redevelopment plan calls for demolition of the houses and the church.

Everyone but the Armsteads has moved from the row houses.

Upton's letter also mentioned a 'type of frame house at 718 Denny St. that "is worthy of consideration in its own right."

Today, the lot at 718 Denny St. is cleanly bulldozed.

In addition to the church and the block of two-story brick houses on Denny Street, Together Inc. wants to save a ramshackle house at 819 Nicholson St.

Vice Adm. Samuel L. Gravely, the U. S. Navy's first black admiral and commander of the Third Fleet, grew up in that house. "We want to have a park named after him," Armstead said. "I mean that's something. That man's out there defending our western border. He's a heavy dude." A Fulton area street already has been named for Gravely. The street, Admiral Gravely Boulevard, passes through a wasteland of vacant lots awaiting the construction of homes for people wanting to return to Fulton.

Paid by Church

Armstead said he is paid by the church to protect it and that he spends much of his time keeping vandals away.

"They (the vandals) are the hard core,"said Armstead as he pointed to a hole knocked in the brick wall of one row house.

Armstead and Together Inc. view the housing authority's redevelopment plans with the same disdain they reserve for vandals and scavengers.

Together Inc. wants the plan amended.

Appearing Monday before City Council, Together Inc. won a minor victory when council postponed closing two streets in Fulton. The housing authority had sought the closings.

Councilman Wayland W. Rennie said he didn't think Armstead's group had much chance of saving the houses, but he said someone ought to listen. Not taking action on the two street closings was council's way of listening.

Walking through the area with Armstead is partly a history lesson and partly a seance.

Armstead walked to Powhatan Hill and pointed out the spot where Christopher Newport met the son of the Indian Chief Powhatan in 1607.

Armstead said he is the reincarnation of Powhatan.

'Bloody Run' Battle

On the other side of Fulton, running near the base of Chimborazo Hill, is Gillies Creek, called "Bloody Run" after white settlers and Indians fought a battle there in 1656.

"When the fog settles down at night, you see some weird things," Armstead said, his voice dropping almost to a whisper. "I mean they're some weird things that go on down here. Weirder than weird.

"I feel responsible for this land," he said. "It's my land. I feel responsible for every bit of dirt and rock and tree. And we'll have something down here of that what used to be."