W. W. Brown House
HISTORIC JACKSON WARD WALKING TOUR
See the Jackson Ward Walking Tour web page for a map of tour stop locations.
105 West Jackson Street
Reverend William Washington Brown was born in Georgia in 1849. He escaped from slavery as a boy, fought for the Union Army during the Civil War, and eventually ended up in Richmond in 1881. It is here that he joined the True Transformers, a temperance organization, and was instrumental in turning the group into a viable fraternal and business entity. In March 1888, the True Transformers chartered the first black-owned bank in the United States, the Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain of the United Order of the True Transformers (aka True Transformers Bank). The bank opened for business in Brown’s home in 1889. (Another black-owned bank in Washington, D. C., actually opened earlier, but got its charter in October 1888, six months after the True Transformers Bank.)
The Brown House is on the left-hand side of West Jackson Street at the corner of Chamberlayne Parkway. A sign on the fence identifies the house as an historical home that was built in 1845.
Stop 6: Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church | Stop 8: Bojangles Robinson Statue
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Last updated on April 8, 2020
