History of Aberdeen Gardens
Aberdeen Gardens is a neighborhood that was built for
blacks by blacks. In January 1934, Hampton Institute
accepted the responsibility for securing a Federal Grant for
$245,000 for the housing development.
Purpose
The Historical Foundation of Aberdeen
Gardens, Inc. is a charitable organization
organized for the purpose of preserving,
restoring and maintaining the museum
and the Historical Gardens neighborhood
in the city of Hampton, Virginia.

Vision
The Historical Foundation of Aberdeen
Gardens, Inc. shares with all people the
human drama of one of Virginia’s most
significant African American experiences
by promoting the historical value of
Aberdeen Gardens.

Mission Statement
Our mission is to engage public, profit,
non-profit organizations and individuals
in supporting initiatives that will improve
the quality of life for all residents of
Historic Aberdeen Gardens and the City of
Hampton, Virginia.

The Foundation’s goal is to serve as an
intermediary in supporting efforts by
acquiring and allocating resources to:

Renovate the Historic Aberdeen Gardens
museum (building) to its original state
and refurbish it with original furniture

Provide low or no interest loans to
shareholders in Historic Aberdeen Gardens
to bring their residences up to original
standards

Use local businesses in Hampton Roads as
resources to assist with necessary
workloads

Develop programs that will help youth in
Aberdeen Gardens to reach their full
potential and achieve their dreams
Aberdeen Gardens became the second neighborhood in
the nation for blacks financed by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s Subsistence Homestead Project. The
Aberdeen neighborhood was designed by a black architect
from Howard University named Hillyard R. Robertson. It
was the model resettlement community in the United
States. Charles Duke, a black architect, was named
architect-in-charge to design and manage the construction
of the Homestead Project.  The Homestead Project was
built by black contractors and laborers. Aberdeen is
composed of 158 brick houses on large lots and a school
(Aberdeen Elementary). Initially, a community center and
a church were in the proposal, but were never built.
The streets, excluding Aberdeen Road are named for
prominent blacks. The original seven streets had
alphanumeric names (A,B,C,D,E,F, and G). A
recommendation was made on December 9, 1937 to the
government of the local sponsoring committee to rename
the seven alphabetical streets in the Aberdeen Homestead
community. The new names served to stimulate pride in
the achievement of black leaders.
The seven streets are named:
(1) Lewis Road, (2) Weaver Road, (3) Walker Road, (4)
Mary Peake Boulevard, (5) Davis Road, (6) Russell Road,
and (7) Langston Boulevard.
Post Office Box 9524
Hampton, Virginia  
23670-0524
Office(757) 722-1183
fax (757) 826-7770 )