Historic Aberdeen Gardens Museum

Historic Aberdeen Gardens Museum

The Museum celebrates the history, heritage and future of historic Aberdeen Gardens. Built for and by African-Americans in 1935 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal Settlement, the neighborhood was established to provide African American shipping workers with modern homes in which to live and garden for sustenance.

Aberdeen Gardens became the second neighborhood in the nation for blacks financed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Subsistence Homestead Project. The neighborhood was designed by a black architect from Howard University named Hilyard Robinson.

Charles Duke, a black architect, was named architect-in-charge to design and manage the construction.

The Homestead Project was built by black contractors and laborers.

The community, which is listed on the Virginia State Register of Historic Landmarks as well as the National Register of Historic Places in May 1994, and the museum that celebrates its history are testaments to the great accomplishments possible when a group of people work together to achieve a common goal.

For tours, call for an appointment.