Henrico Black History Month Spotlight – Neverett Eggleston, Sr.

In honor of February as Black History Month, the Henrico Citizen will spotlight (on each weekday during the month) an important current or former Black resident of Henrico whose life has helped shape the county.

Henrico native Neverett Eggleston, Sr. left a lasting mark on Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward community, transforming a modest hotel into one of the city’s most important refuges for Black travelers and entertainers during segregation—and launching a family legacy that still shapes the neighborhood.

Born in the 1890s in Henrico County, Eggleston spent time in New York City during the 1920s, witnessing the Harlem Renaissance before returning south. In Henrico, he worked as a cook at Lakeside Country Club, then opened a Jackson Ward restaurant called The Lafayette and later managed nearby Miller’s Hotel.

Then in 1935, he purchased that building and renamed it the Hotel Eggleston. It soon became a landmark in the neighborhood that gained a reputation as the “Harlem of the South.”

The hotel became a crucial haven for African American motorists in the Jim Crow era and was listed in the 1947 edition of The Negro Motorist Green Book, which listed service establishments nationally that served Black patrons. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, it was one of only three Richmond hotels that allowed Black guests at the time. Its registers included baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, jazz legend Duke Ellington, and performers such as James Brown and Redd Foxx, along with musicians Louis Armstrong and Count Basie.

Eggleston and his family paired business success with civic activism. He worked in the 1950s to register Black voters, while his son later helped found the Metropolitan Business League. A third generation continued the entrepreneurial tradition through restaurants like Croaker’s Spot and Sugar’s Crab Shack.

The hotel closed in the 1980s after desegregation reshaped travel patterns, and the building collapsed in 2009. In 2017, the site reopened as Eggleston Plaza, developed by The Hanson Company in partnership with the family to provide affordable apartments for longtime residents. Its ground floor is now home to Southern Kitchen, linking today’s Jackson Ward to its storied past.

Nearly three decades after Eggleston’s death in 1996, his legacy endures, etched into a neighborhood where culture, entrepreneurship, and community remain tightly intertwined.