Southall’s Meadow

This land survey shows the area of Charlottesville that would later become Vinegar Hill, as it looked in November 1870 when it was subdivided into smaller lots. One of the initial property buyers, John West, would later become one of the wealthiest Black residents of Charlottesville. The area was at that time known as “Southall’s Meadow,” as it had previously been a part of the property of Valentine Wood Southall, a lawyer and enslaver who served in the Virginia House of Delegates.