(soft music) - Hello, my name is Jordan Yowell, and if you look not too far down my family tree you'll see the name Cuffee.

So when I found out that there was a community in Virginia founded by free black families called Cuffeytown, I had to know more.

Cuffeytown, also known as Long Ridge, can be traced back as far as 1778.

The community is located in the Hickory section of Chesapeake, not too far from the Virginia/North Carolina line.

It wasn't just the Cuffees, but several families, the Sivels, Browns, Suttons, Spences, Jones, and Whitehurst, who built a rich history here, and a few of their descendants were kind enough to share some of that rich history that has been passed down through generations.

- My great grandfather was born in this community in the 1700s.

- Our family was free, all of our family, yes.

- [Jordan] During Cuffeytown's origins, the Hampton Roads region was home to about half of Virginia's free black population.

In Norfolk county, which eventually became Chesapeake, the number of free black people more than tripled over a 70 year timeframe.

- They farmed the land and they raised, like, lima beans and black beans.

And they dried it.

They had their own fruit trees, their own poultry, certain time that they would go, and, you know, slaughtered their hogs.

- [Jordan] Although the residents here were free, they did not escape threats, like frequent visits by slave patrols looking for runaways.

- They would come through here in the evenings, you know, in the night, and the people had to go out to the cemetery and hide.

They would come through pretty often, yeah, but the people in this community, all of 'em got together and they had a plan of surviving.

- [Jordan] They were also determined to help their community grow.

- [Dorethea] They had some of everything here because they built the school and they all came together to build the church.

My grandfather, Halloway Smith, gave the property.

- [Jordan] They named their church Gabriel Chapel A.M.E Zion, which opened its doors in 1866.

Reverend Dr. Sandi Hutchinson is the current pastor.

- Sometimes churches were just there as places of worship, but Gabriel Chapel was there as a place that the people could use for refuge.

It was used to share political information.

Also they had forms of entertainment, educational activities.

I was told they even showed movies.

They put up sheets and they'd find a way to make makeshift theater for the community, even at the church site.

- [Jordan] What else was here in the community that people could go to?

- [Sandi] They had two stores and in one of them, they actually, I was told, had a little dance hall.

(upbeat music) - [Jordan] So can you explain why I've heard this town go by so many different names?

(laughs) - The name of the community is actually Long Ridge, but after years of prominence of the Cuffee family, many started to call it Cuffee, and then it kind of became christened as Cuffeytown.

One of the most fascinating things I learned was that the Cuffeytown community was actually burned to the ground at one time.

Raiders had come through and they burned down all the homes, and the people actually rebuilt the community following the building of the church in 1866.

- [Jordan] Cuffeytown holds several historic sites, including this cemetery, where 13 black Civil War soldiers from this community, known as the Cuffeytown 13, were laid to rest.

When members of the Buffalo Soldiers of Hampton Roads learned that there were men who served in the United States Colored Troops buried here, they wanted to make sure that those veterans were recognized.

- There was nothing really saying that they were there.

And so, we asked the pastor what could we do to kind of help them identify the grounds here, so that's how we erected the flag pole in 2007.

Each year on Veteran's Day in November, the church has a ceremony and we gladly come out, participate in the ceremony with them, and sometimes we put up flags, each one identifying each one of the grave stones there.

- So when the Buffalo Soldiers were serving in the war, what responsibility were they typically given?

- Most soldiers, typically they jobs are take care of the horses, take care of their selves, make sure they're ready for battle, take care of their arms, they're cooks, normal soldier duties.

My great grandfather, his wife, on both sides, mom and dad, they're buried here.

I'm currently a landowner here in the community.

My ancestors owned farm and tended land here, and is one of those things they saw then as being important.

And it's important today.

- Over the years, the number of original families who call Cuffeytown home has dwindled but those who remain, hold onto its rich history, and eagerly share that history with the future generations to ensure that Cuffeytown takes its rightful place in the American history narrative.

I'm Jordan Yowell.

(gentle music)