Brompton Heights

By: Brendan O’Connell

Brompton Heights is located south of downtown Fredericksburg and the University of Mary Washington along the east side of William Street, forming a five block triangle between William and Hanover Streets and College Avenue. Originally owned by the Rowe family as part of the Brompton Estate, the land was sold to the Fredericksburg Development Company (FDC) in 1875.1 The FDC platted the subdivision in 1891, but went bankrupt soon afterward. The area that would become Brompton Heights remained undeveloped into the early twentieth century.

Figure 1: These Blocks from the original FDC Map became Brompton Heights, 1891. Courtesy, Fredericksburg Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Virginia.

M. B. Rowe Sr. (a former captain in the U.S. Army, prominent cattle farmer, president of the Planters’ National Bank, and vice president of the Farmers’ Creamery Company) purchased back all the land for Brompton Heights from the FDC in 1892.2 After the death of Rowe Sr. in 1925, his son, M. B. Rowe Jr., began to sell plots to homebuyers, using the exact parcels first mapped by the FDC in 1891.3 Rowe Jr. continued to sell parcels to individuals and families until 1931 when he sold the remaining lots in blocks 130-133 to John W. Allison and A. B. Young.4 Two local real estate developers, Allison and Young were deeply involved in the creation of suburban neighborhoods in Fredericksburg, such as Hanover Heights. Though they used the same lot numbers as seen on the FDC map, Allison and Young often sold larger lots than those drawn by FDC. And like Rowe, Allison and Young often sold parcels to individual homebuyers. 

Allison and Young also introduced racial covenants into individual land sales at Brompton Heights. These covenants were included in deeds recorded in both Spotsylvania County as well as Fredericksburg City. Only one parcel, 817 Moncure Street, was sold without a racial covenant in 1946. Allison’s son, who took over his father’s estate after his death in 1943, and Young sold the property to Curtis Weston Hart and Nellie H. Hart.5 The Harts had migrated to Fredericksburg in the early 1930s from nearby Spotsylvania County.6 This sale was also the last property sold by Allison and Young in Brompton Heights.7 Interestingly, the other sales made by John W. Allison Jr. for his father’s estate and Young did include racial covenants, such as the 1944 sale of 812 Bright Street to William J. Fippo, a local plasterer.8

Of the eighty-six parcels in Brompton Heights today, only 32—approximately 37%—never had racial covenants inserted into their land deeds. The majority of unrestricted parcels were concentrated in block 134, located between Adams and Bright Streets and were primarily sold by Rowe Jr.. Allison and Young’s racial covenants all followed some variation of the following:

That for and during a period of fifty years from the date of this deed, the said land, or any portion thereof, or any improvements thereon, shall neither be sold, conveyed, leased, rented, nor otherwise disposed of to any person other than one of the Caucasian race.

Figure 2: Racially Restrictive Covenant in a Parcel of Brompton Heights, 1933. Courtesy, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Spotsylvania, Virginia.

It is notable that every covenant was set for a term of fifty years. As Larry Santucci argues in his research on racial covenants in Philadelphia, covenants were typically understood to be valid for one generation, roughly thirty years on average. Longer terms  were considered exceptional. Racial covenants, however, were often the exception to the rule against perpetuities (RAP), and many racial covenants in Fredericksburg were termed for even longer than Brompton Heights.9 Other subdivisions had racial covenants that were set for fifty years, as can be seen in College Terrace and Hanover Heights. 

Almost all the homes in Brompton Heights were built during or after the 1920s. The exception was 1200 William Street, which was constructed in the 1820s. Despite being extant when purchased from M. B. Rowe, this home, like many of the parcels surrounding it, included a racially restrictive covenant.10

Except for 1200 William Street, homes were built in the Brompton Heights subdivision after the land was sold to individual home buyers. Neither Rowe nor Allison and Young built homes to sell. This practice gives the neighborhood its distinctive character and mix of architectural styles.

Figure 3: Article in the Free Lance Times that promoted the sale of individual lots, September 26, 1931. Courtesy, Bill Shorter.

Figure 4: Purchasers of Parcels from M. B. Rowe, John W. Allison, and A. B. Young Based on the 1940 U.S. Census*

NameRaceOccupationBlock and Lot # (As appears on the 1891 FDC Map)Address Today
William J FlippoWPlastererBlock 132, Lot 20, 21814 Bright St
Andy B SnellingsWSanitary Grocery ClerkBlock 133, Lot 17, 18806 Daniel St
Alfred B CooperWCarpenterBlock 133, Lot 13, 14812 Bright St
Walter N HoneyWMechanicBlock 132, Lot 1, 2807 Bright St
Waker A. McGeeWPlumbing Supplies Store ProprietorBlock 131, Lot 34, 35, 361217 Hanover St
Richard G Thompson & Pearl J ThompsonWPainterBlock 131, Lot 28, 29814 MONCURE ST
Richard N. LanierWDentistBlock 131, Lot 11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19, 20, 211238 WILLIAM ST
John S. Jett & Pearl V. JettWR. F. & P. Railroad PusherBlock 134, Lot 23, 24800 ADAMS ST

* “1940 Fredericksburg Census, Enumeration District 107-2, 107-3, 107-4,” Fredericksburg Research Resources, accessed December 7, 2024, https://resources.umwhisp.org/Fredericksburg/census/fbg1930ED107-2.htm.

Socioeconomically speaking, those who purchased lots and lived in Brompton Heights tended to be rather well off. The table above shows a selection of homeowners from each of the blocks in Brompton heights. Noticeably, individuals residing in Brompton Heights when the 1940 U.S. Census was taken tended to be skilled laborers, professionals, or business owners.

  1. Deed Book W , Page 231 (1875), Fredericksburg City Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Virginia. ↩︎
  2. “The M. B. Rowe Camp” The Daily Star (Fredericksburg, VA), February 8, 1907; Deed Book A. D. , Page 442 (1892), Spotsylvania County Courthouse, Spotsylvania, Virginia. ↩︎
  3. Rowe, M. B. “M. B. Rowe Dies in Fredericksburg,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 26, 1925, accessed September 3, 2024, https://www.newspapers.com. ↩︎
  4. 1930 U.S. Census (Population Schedule), Fredericksburg, Virginia, Enumeration District (ED) 147, sheet no. 9, John W. Allison in household of John W. Allison, line 23, digital image, accessed December 11, 2024, https://ancestry.com. ↩︎
  5. John W. Allison, death certificate, January 11, 1943, Virginia Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, accessed December 11, 2024, https://ancestry.com. ↩︎
  6. 1940 U.S. Census (Population Schedule), Fredericksburg, Virginia, Enumeration District (ED) 107-7, sheet no. 12a, Weston and Nellie Hart in household of Weston Hart, line 31-32, digital image, accessed December 11, 2024; 1950 U.S. Census (Population Schedule), Fredericksburg, Virginia, Enumeration District (ED) 108-12, sheet no. 17, Weston and Nellie Hart in household of Weston Hart, lines 9-10, digital image, accessed December 11, 2024, https://ancestry.com.
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  7. Deed Book 83, Page 57 (1946), Fredericksburg City Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Virginia. ↩︎
  8.  Deed Book 79, Page 376 (1944), Fredericksburg City Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Virginia. ↩︎
  9. Larry Santucci, “How Prevalent Were Racially Restrictive Covenants in 20th Century Philadelphia? A New Spatial Data Set Provides Answers,” Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Consumer Finance Institute, November 2019, accessed December 10, 2024, https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/consumer-finance/discussion-papers/dp19-05.pdf. ↩︎
  10. Deed Book 109 , Page 100 (1931), Spotsylvania Courthouse, Spotsylvania, Virginia. ↩︎