In 1838, only eleven years after slavery ended in New York State, free African American James Weeks purchased a modest plot of land in what is now Central Brooklyn. Weeks’ land became Weeksville, a thriving, self-sufficient haven for Black people fleeing racial violence, and the second-largest known independent African American community in pre-Civil War America. As an intentional project of Black land ownership, Weeksville enabled its community members to vote at a time when land-owning requirements kept many Black Americans disenfranchised.

By the 1860s, Weeksville was home to nearly 500 families, who had founded schools, churches, an orphanage, and a variety of Black-owned businesses, including one of the country’s first African American newspapers, the Freedman’s Torchlight. The community was a model of African American entrepreneurial success, political freedom and intellectual creativity. Its residents participated in every major national effort against slavery and for equal rights for free people of color, including the Black Convention movement, voting rights campaigns, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, Freedmen's schools and African nationalism.

For the past 50 years, WHC has served as an education space and Black community hub. Through the ongoing stewardship of the three surviving historic Hunterfly Road Houses, currently open to the public for tours, WHC inspires visitors and offers tactile connections to African-American history.

Family Friendly: Tours are led by expert educators who can adapt tour materials to any age or interests. Tours are highly interactive and tactile and are suitable for all ages.

The historic homes at Weeksville are not wheelchair accessible, due to uneven grassy terrain to the houses, stairs, and narrow spaces within the historical structures.

No tripods or photography for official use without express written permission. Personal photography is permitted.

No pets that are not service animals, no smoking, or unattended children on site.

Children of all ages welcome, but every person attending, including children, requires a ticket.