Jackson Ward is a neighborhood and a voting district in Richmond, Virginia. The neighborhood as existed since before the civil war, but it was officially enshrined as a ‘ward’ in 1871. The wards were shifted around in 1905, leading to the end of Jackson Ward as a political entity.
Jackson Ward was enshrined as a ‘ward’, basically a voting district, in 1871. It was intentionally gerrymandered to place most of Richmond’s black residents in one district. This was intended to limit their local voting power. Despite this, Jackson Ward managed to become a center of black economic and cultural activity, earning it the monikers “The Harlem of the South” and “Black Wall Street.”