Street sign unveiled
7/7/2017, 8:44 a.m.
It’s not official, but a stretch of Duval Street in Jackson Ward is now John Jasper Way. Unveiled last Sunday at Duval Street and Chamberlayne Parkway, the honorary street sign pays tribute to the founder and first leader of the historic Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church at 14 W. Duval St. Richmond City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray secured support from her council colleagues to place the sign as the church marks its 150th year. The Rev. John Jasper started the church on Brown’s Island in 1867, and two years later moved the fast-growing congregation to the Duval Street site. The church has survived wars, depressions and the construction of Interstate 95 in the 1950s. The renovated house behind the sign also is historic. It is the 220-year-old Tucker Cottage, one of Richmond’s oldest residential buildings.
