Colored Rosemont

The house here at 1312 Wythe St. is the only original dwelling from the once-thriving, predominantly African American neighborhood known as Colored Rosemont. Virginia F. W. Thomas, a White real estate entrepreneur, inherited and purchased land in this area early in the 20th century. She sold home lots without restrictive racial covenants, despite their common use then. By about 1950, many Black middle-class families lived between Madison, Pendleton, N. Fayette, and N. West Streets. In the 1960s, the City of Alexandria expropriated property in Colored Rosemont, compensated the owners, and constructed a public housing project, undeterred by a lawsuit and vigorous opposition from the neighborhood.