Remembering Walker's Inn
Andrew went from boarding house to building and running an inn that was the heart of the Stafford Black community during the Jim Crow era.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Email Martin
Jump in a car today, and there’s not much mystery in getting from Point A to Point B. Smartphone apps tell us how far we have to travel, what time we’ll arrive, where the nearest gas station is, and dining options when hunger pangs take hold.
That wasn’t the case a century ago when Andrew “Norfolk” Walker made his way from North Carolina to Stafford by foot and by hitch-hiking — a potentially dangerous proposition in the Jim Crow South.
His travels carried him to a boarding house in Stafford that catered to Black travelers where he stayed, swapping work for lodging. He eventually met his wife, Rosie, and together they opened his namesake business — Walkers Tavern.
The structure, which stood where Stafford Hospital is located today, was part layover for travelers, part gathering place for locals, and part athletic facility where the Stafford All-Stars — a Black team, as baseball like everything else in the South was segregated — played. Later, it also became a place for motorcycle racing.
It was also known as a great place to eat. Beating Chic-fil-a by several decades, Rosie served chicken sandwiches that were widely celebrated.
At a time when the federal government is actively erasing public displays of Black history from National Parks and school libraries, Walkers Inn is getting its due in the form of a mural at Stafford Middle School, which is less than a mile on a line from Stafford Hospital.
The painting by local artist Brenda Edwards captures both the range of activities at the inn itself, and the spirit of Black residents in Stafford, who found ways to thrive in the face of blatantly racist policies that marginalized them from the county’s white citizens.
“This mural ensures that the story of Walker’s Inn is not only remembered, but passed forward to future generations,” Stafford Middle School Principal, Dr. Andrew Grider, according to a school district press release. “It is a testament to the Walker family as the epitome of community leadership and to the importance of honoring our history.”
Among those at the event were the Walkers’ grandchildren — Carolyn Evans, Bertie Bell, Ira Bell, and James Bell.
“Our grandparents were filled with love for their community,” said Bertie Bell. “And honoring them in this way means the world to us. We are proud to celebrate them as leaders of Stafford.”
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
First to break the story of Stafford Board of Supervisors dismissing a citizen library board member for “misconduct,” without informing the citizen or explaining what the person allegedly did wrong.
First to explain falling water levels in the Rappahannock Canal.
First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
Our media group also offers the most-extensive election coverage in the region and regular columnists like:
And our newsroom is led by the most-experienced and most-awarded journalists in the region — Adele Uphaus (Managing Editor and multiple VPA award-winner) and Martin Davis (Editor-in-Chief, 2022 Opinion Writer of the Year in Virginia and more than 25 years reporting from around the country and the world).
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
This article is published under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. It can be distributed for noncommercial purposes and must include the following: “Published with permission by FXBG Advance.”