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Proffit Historic District

Albemarle County, Virginia Registered Historic Place stubsColonial Revival architecture in VirginiaGeography of Albemarle County, VirginiaGothic Revival architecture in VirginiaHistoric districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
NRHP infobox with nocatNational Register of Historic Places in Albemarle County, VirginiaUse mdy dates from August 2023
Proffit historic sign 0602
Proffit historic sign 0602

The Proffit Historic District is a national historic district located at Proffit, Albemarle County, Virginia. It encompasses 26 contributing buildings and 3 contributing sites in the historic center of Proffit. Notable buildings and sites includes Evergreen Baptist Church, the Proffit Station Master's House, remains of the first Proffit Post Office, the Proffit Road Bridge, and several houses built by African-American families as far back as the 1880s.Proffit's history dates back to the 1870s when two former slaves, John Coles and Benjamin Brown, purchased some land from former slaveholder W.G. Carr. In 1876 Ned Brown purchased seventy-five acres in the area as well. Its settlement began and the community thrived. Proffit is noted as one of the few African American communities in Albemarle County to survive after the American Civil War. Today it is a quiet residential area whose backbone is the Evergreen Baptist Church. The Church was built in 1891 by its first pastor, Reverend D.L. Gofney, and continues to be significantly involved in this historic community today. The historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Proffit Historic District (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Proffit Historic District
Judge Lane,

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Wikipedia: Proffit Historic DistrictContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 38.11 ° E -78.423888888889 °
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Judge Lane 2182
22911
Virginia, United States
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Proffit historic sign 0602
Proffit historic sign 0602
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Proffit, Virginia

Proffit is an unincorporated community in Albemarle County, Virginia. There is no commercial activity, with only houses lining the road and a bridge under which Norfolk Southern's Piedmont Division, Washington District line runs. It is recognized as a Virginia Landmark and the Proffit Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.Shortly after the Civil War the village was populated entirely by African Americans, when it was known as Egypt, and then as Bethel. It became known as Proffit when the railroad line went through, named for the man who bought the right of way for the line. As it became a minor commercial hub, the population gradually became more caucasian. By the late 1920s there were only 15-20 African American families remaining in Proffit.In 1974, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Tribune covered the Proffit Area News. The paper notes Evergreen Baptist Church as part of the community, with Rev. Blakely presiding. Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Earlysville was also noted as hosting the Thanksgiving Union Worship Service with Rev. L.S. Ward, pastor of Chatman Grove Baptist Church, Eastham delivering the sermon. Other congregations joining this service were Evergreen at Proffit and Free Union of Stony Point. The Union Christmas service was planned to be at Evergreen Baptist that year. The historian, Claude Hall, author of Abel Parker Upshur, was born in Proffit, and procured three degrees from the University of Virginia.