Weeksville Heritage Center — Attraction in New York

Visited the site of Weeksville Heritage Center on a Saturday in 2023, the first day of the Juneteenth Food Festival that was taking place on the site. Though my husband and I knew that the center would be closed for tours that day, We were looking forward to familiarizing ourselves with the center's location and the houses on the site, with the intention of returning for a tour in the future.

We arrived just after noon, as the Food Festival published hours were "12-7." However, nothing was really ready at that time, and at least half of the food vendors still weren't ready to sell food by 12:35pm.

Since we had to wait for the food vendors to open, we decided to check out the 'Welcome Center.' We quickly learned that the name is a misnomer, as the center is not very welcoming. There were no signs on the center saying it was closed, so we walked in to the main entrance. I didn't walk more than 10 feet into the door, was looking at the information about the center on a shelf, and a woman came running up to me to ask me 'if she could help me.' I mentioned that we were here for the food festival and would like information for a future tour. Though she answered my questions politely, the feeling I got was clearly that I had done something wrong, and was not welcome. I signaled to my husband and we quickly left the building. Again, there were no signs saying the building was closed.

Since the food vendors were mostly still not ready to serve, my husband and I walked down and sat on the edge of the wooden ramp that runs down into the yard. There were other people sitting there too. We had read the FAQ mentioning to bring lawn chairs to sit on the lawn, but we weren't planning to stay for too long so we planned to just wait there while the food vendors opened. Not a few minutes after we sat down, a man came and somewhat rudely told us all to get up, as we 'weren't allowed to sit on the ramp.' We completely understand that there might be access rules, or reasons why it might not be safe to have people on the ramp, but again, there was no sign indicating that sitting on the ramp was not allowed, nor was this in the event FAQ. And the event person could have been less brusque about running people off since there was no sign. I'm sure they must have had to do this all day long.

Since we now had no place to sit, and the food vendors weren't yet ready, we decided to wander over by the houses, and tried to walk down a path that led past the garden, to what we thought might be another area where vendors were set up (we had seen this from Bergen Street while approaching the venue). The same man who ran us off the ramp told us that were 'weren't allowed to walk there." This we found very strange, as later when we again looked at the other vendor area through the fence on Bergen St, it seemed that path was the only way to go there. We don't know how people were supposed to get back to that other vendor area, and were also quite disappointed not to be able to even get near the historic houses on the property to view the outsides.

In summary we were 'pushed off' of three areas of the center within about 15 minutes of arriving. We understand this was a special event, but all of this has given us quite a negative impression of the center, and we are not eager to return. At the very least, the center missed a HUGE opportunity to showcase the center as an interesting, fun, and welcoming place to visit. Additionally, we felt that the event could have used improvement in some basic areas of execution including things like posting opening hours that actually match the event readiness. Meaning, don't post that your hours are 12-7 when the event isn't fully ready to go until...

I took the guided tour and really enjoyed the view I got into history from the mid nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. The fight against slavery, the universal suffrage movement, Black nationalism and self-determination are all stories you'll hear about as you step through the homes of this historic community that was almost lost to time but for a few determined folks back in the sixties who discovered the history, unearthed the artifacts, and saved the historic structures. The guide had tons of knowledge to share and did a great job painting a picture of historic Weeksville and its inspiring residents. The tour ended in a well designed, interactive exhibit hall. I recommend a visit to anyone interested in the history of New York and lesser known...

The heart of the Center is the Hunterfly Road houses, 3 historic homes restored to show what life was like in various eras in the Brooklyn community of Weeksville. Established by free blacks in New York as a way to win suffrage rights available only to African American men who owned property (at a time when all white men had the right to vote) it became a place of refuge and self sufficiency for decades. As the grid that shaped modern Brooklyn was developed the independent community disappeared and was all but forgotten until local activists rediscovered it in the 60s. Tours of the restored houses tell this fascinating story, and the beautifully designed Center is the site of...