Blacks in Business, 1916

in Richmond, Virginia

December 27, 2024

The advertisement for St. Luke Penny Savings Bank which appeared in the 1916 Richmond City Directory. It may have been the only Black-owned business that placed a display advertisement in the directory that year. (Source: Richmond City Directory, 1916, page 31.

While working on another project, I became interested in Black business in Richmond in the early 1900s. Jackson Ward is well-known for being the center of Black business, but I was specifically interested where other Black businesses were located. More or less at random, I chose the year 1916 to investigate. I combed through the business section of the 1916 Richmond City Directory and wrote down the name of every business which had an asterisk by the name (which at the time denoted “colored”) and then put all details in a table which I could then sort not only alphabetically by name, but also by type of business and street name. My intention was to get a feel for how African Americans were served – or underserved – in Richmond during that year. I had planned to map out all the locations, but such a task would have been very time-consuming, and I got distracted with another project. Having already spent quite a bit of time in preparing the tables, however, I wanted to make them available to anyone who might find the data interesting. These PDFs are listed at the end of this page.

But first, some background and observation notes about the data. Not all of the observations deal only with Black Richmonders. Most of what is below will come as no surprise, but it may provide data-driven evidence that otherwise is hard to come by.

The Black population in 1916 was about a third of the total (the 1910 census showed a total population of Richmond as 127,628 with a Black population of 42%; however, the percentage of Black residents was declining due to the effects of the “Great Migration” to northern states that started in about 1910.)
It was probably difficult at times for the directory information gatherers to decide whether a business, or even a person, should be considered “colored” or not. The specifics of how “Black” (the word used at the time was “colored”) was determined is unknown, and there appears to be little written on it as to how it was done for city directories in general. However, Pew Research gives insight into how it was done by U.S. Census takers, and methodology was probably similar. Mistakes were likely made: the Dixie Theatre at 18 West Broad in one year’s directory is not identified with an asterisk even though it was Black-patronized at the time (it was owned by a White woman). In all other years, including 1916, it has an asterisk.
At least part of Manchester had been annexed to Richmond City at the time of this directory and at least some Manchester addresses appear in it; the directory also sometimes listed businesses that were not located strictly inside the city limits.
A few businesses are listed under more than one (usually only two) categories: e.g., The St. Luke Penny Savings Bank of Richmond is listed under both “Banks” and “Savings Banks.”
Black businesses were overwhelmingly service-oriented or retail (rarely, if ever, wholesale).
Retail Black businesses were rarely, if ever, involved in luxury retail (e.g., florists). Retail businesses run by Black Richmonders tended to have inventories of smaller-sized items, not bulky inventories (like furniture stores).
The only furniture dealer, of the total of 49 listed, belonging to a Black Richmonder was one that sold secondhand furniture. Only one White dealer was noted as selling second-hand, although another was shown as selling antique furniture.
Professional, degreed occupations of Black Richmonders were rare. Large businesses (manufacturing) run by Black Richmonders were rare.
About 250 total lawyers were listed for Richmond; six were African American.
White people were almost exclusively listed in the insurance categories; almost no Blacks were listed in this field except in the “beneficial” insurance companies category. As an aside, there are far more listings under “insurance companies – fire” than any other insurance company subhead.
Two saloons of the 127 listed were shown as belonging to Black Richmonders. A maximum of 150 saloons were permitted in the city by a law passed in 1908. Virginia turned into a dry state starting in 1916, and so the 1917 city directory has no saloons listed (national prohibition was not passed until 1933).
About half of the businesses listed in the “cleaners and pressers” category were identified as “colored.” Several of these may have been larger businesses rather than “mom and pops” and may have employed other Black workers. I suspect some of them may have had White owners.
Seventy-one out of about 85 “eating houses” were shown as run by Black business owners, many of them women. One out of about 45 “restaurants” was shown as run by a Black business owner. None of the 26 “lunch rooms” was shown as run by a Black business owner.
With very few exceptions, boarding houses were run by White women identified as Miss or Mrs. A few of these were located in predominantly Black neighborhoods. The two “colored” boarding houses listed appear also to have been run by women, but they are not identified as Miss or Mrs. Several boarding houses, all shown as run by White people, are identified by business names (e.g., The Fairfax, The Langley, The Old Homestead) instead of by the names of the business owners.
There are businesses listed that may seem odd to us today (e.g., “insurance companies – flywheel”).
The Gilpin listed as shoe dealer, if related to the actor Charles Sidney Gilpin at all, does not appear to be in the entertainer’s immediate family. The public housing area in Richmond, Gilpin Court, is named for the actor.
There was a Black “Star Theatre” at 1919 Hull, and a White “Star Theatre (moving pictures)” at 512 ½ Louisiana.
“Hucksters” were people who had permanent stalls in the markets. Seven of about 48 listed were shown as “colored.”