Lawsuit Over Cemetery Site In Western Prince William County To Get Hearing

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — A years-long battle over alleged disturbances to African American and Native American cemeteries in western Prince William County is getting a federal court hearing Wednesday.

On Wednesday at 10 a.m., a hearing will be held in the Alexandria federal courthouse on a preliminary injunction to stop all movement on the site of a historic Black and Native American cemetery. The hearing will be in Courtroom 1000 before District Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr.

The Coalition to Save Historic Thoroughfare, which was formed to challenge alleged disturbances to African American and Native American cemeteries in the Thoroughfare community, is pursuing a lawsuit against Prince William County and The Farm Brewery at Broad Run (International Investments LLC). In November 2024, the lawsuit was moved to federal court. The coalition is represented by Chap Petersen, a lawyer who formerly served as a state senator.

"We still stand strong and courageous despite the revolving roadblocks we have encountered seeking justice for our deceased loved ones and our living," said Frank Washington, the Coalition to Save Historic Thoroughfare's founder and spokesperson. "This is not a time to be silent. This is not a time to be complacent with what we see happening within our county."

The coalition claims Thoroughfare's three major cemeteries are within the land the Farm Brewery at Broad Run bought. The allegations against the landowner include destroying the Scott Cemetery, blocking access to the Potters Field Cemetery, and threatening the Fields/Allen Cemetery with development.

According to the coalition, Thoroughfare is an historic Native American and African American community in the Broad Run area. African Americans began to settle during the 1800s, joining Native Americans already established there. The coalition says descendants of Thoroughfare's founders still live there, and that graves include slaves, freed slaves, freedmen and freedwomen, and Native Americans.

As Prince William County Times previously reported, the Farm Brewery at Broad Run owners had asked for the case to be dismissed and said the coalition couldn't legally sue. The brewery owners previously told Inside Nova in a statement that archaeological studies did not show any signs that the Scott Cemetery existed.

In 2021, Prince William County bought two acres to protect the land from development and is planning a public park. The county says the land contains the Potter’s Field/Peyton Thoroughfare Community Cemetery. However, the coalition says the county removed descendants' burial rights at the site near their ancestors.