Hugh Carr and his legacy for the people of Albemarle
Bob Travis
The Ivy Creek Natural Area is on the site of Hugh Carr's farm. Hugh was born into slavery in 1843. Emancipated in 1865, he sharecropped on area farms, and gradually purchased land of his own. In 1870 he paid John Shackleford $100 in "part payment" for a 58 acre tract that would form the core of River View Farm and that 100 years later would become the Ivy Creek Natural Area. He continued to add to his farm, acquiring over 125 acres by 1890.
Here Hugh and his wife Texie Mae Hawkins lived, farmed, and raised six daughters and one son. Education played an integral role in the life and legacy of Hugh Carr. Having spent his youth in slavery, Carr's enduring dream was to see his children educated. Five of his daughters earned advanced degrees and chose as their life's work to "teach and lead their people". His oldest daughter, Mary Carr Greer, imparted the gift of education to African American children throughout the county as principal of the Albemarle Training School. Greer Elementary School is named in her honor.
Mary and her husband, Conly Greer, grew the farm to 225 acres and became a model of modern farming practices. After Conly's death in 1956, Mary sustained the farm with the help of hired hands. Although she sold portions of the land in her later years, the core of River View Farm remained intact at her death in 1973.
Two years later, The Nature Conservancy bought the remaining acreage of River View Farm. With the cooperation of the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the newly formed Ivy Creek Foundation, and a federal grant, additional parcels were purchased and added to the farm, making a 215-acre preserve that today is operated jointed by the city and the county as the Ivy Creek Natural Area.
(Most of this text copied/adapted from the Ivy Creek informational poster of which this photo was taken.)
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