'I almost started crying when I saw it': A historic house tied to the Underground Railroad was demolished in Petersburg.

BY MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS Richmond Times-Dispatch 2 hrs ago

The grass at the two-century-old dwelling on Pocahontas Island had been freshly cut; its trees trimmed. The property seemed poised for improvements. Then the crane arrived. ... Residents of this historic black Petersburg community, which dates back to the mid-18th century, watched as 215 Witten St. -- widely believed to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad -- was demolished Monday.

“We saw it, but we just couldn’t believe it was happening," said local historian Richard Stewart, founder of the Black History Museum on this peninsula along the Appomattox River that's home to about 60 people.

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The structure is believed to have housed in its basement enslaved people waiting to be "either smuggled through coffins or false-bottom boats up the Appomattox River and on to freedom," she said. "But it's hard to prove anything about the Underground Railroad because the nature of it was so secretive.”

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According to Petersburg property records, the 3-bedroom, 1,877-square-foot structure was assessed at $14,400. Its listed owner is Linda C. Twitty, who grew up in the house but now lives in Maryland, Stewart said. .... Twitty recently received notice from the city's code compliance department to repair or demolish the deteriorated structure. .... Twitty had rejected offers to sell the property, including from members of Stewart's family and Preservation Virginia, whose CEO, Elizabeth Kostelny, called the loss of the house "tragic and completely unnecessary."

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mwilliams@timesdispatch.com

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