In 1906, four Black businessmen – Charles Cuney, Michel Dumas, James Neill, and Alexander Sautterwhite – set their sights on creating an upscale Black suburb in Maryland. They subsequently launched the ambitious project by buying acres of land at a location close to the Washington, D.C. line, per What I’m Reading.
Unfortunately, their vision could not become a reality as White landowners fought tooth and nail to prevent the construction of the project. More than a century later, Maryland officials on Saturday unveiled a historical marker close to the area where Belmont was supposed to be situated. The unveiling ceremony was attended by descendants of the four Black businessmen.
“This marker states the facts of what happened in this location in Chevy Chase in 1906 when my third great-uncle along with three men Black men purchased land to create an affluent Black community and it was halted,” Satterwhite’s descendant, Felani Afrika Spivey, said.
“Without this marker, [Belmont] would be a rumor. It means a lot to me and my family for our legacy, and hopefully it helps us get reparations.”
Known as the “Belmont Syndicate,” the four Black businessmen purchased the land after they had a White man present himself as a straw buyer. They then went ahead to advertise their ambitious project in Black and white newspapers, per What I’m Reading.
“Colored People Attention,” the headline for one of the ads stated. The ad also urged Black people to “buy an ideal suburban lot in the most beautiful and most rapidly improving section of Northwest Washington, Belmont Chevy Chase.”
The ad also provided the cost and payment plan, stating that the price for lots started from $400. “It is the only good subdivision in Washington where colored people are welcomed to buy, and it will be sold up completely in a very few days,” the ad stated. “This is your chance to have a suburban home in the finest part of Washington – grasp it at once.”
And though over 20 people bought lots, the project was swiftly opposed by White landowners after they became aware. The White residents sent out threats through local newspapers and also went as far as having authorities arrest the Belmont Syndicate. The four Black men had done nothing wrong but they were arrested.
“To establish a negro colony at Belmont, practically at our doors and beyond the restraint of the District police force, would mean the impairment of our property values, a constant menace to our peace and security, and the destruction of the happiness of our homes,” a resident told The Washington Times.
One of the individuals who opposed the project was a White supremacist and founder of the real estate firm, the Chevy Chase Land Company. The company was set up to develop all-White neighborhoods. Together with their affiliates, the company successfully managed to prevent the Belmont Syndicate from going ahead with their project.
“Despite threats of violence, at least 28 people bought lots. The development collapsed in 1909 when the Chevy Chase Land Company refused to release title,” the historical marker states. “Belmont exemplified the ambition of Washington’s early 20th-century Black community and foreshadowed the coming struggle over housing segregation.”
“There’s an African proverb that says truth pressed to the ground will rise to the top. To be standing here with my cousins and my son is the most miraculous spiritual accomplishment in my life,” Artist Crudup, a descendant of one of the four Black businessmen, also said.
“This has always been an affluent area. We can all go forward from this.”
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