PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA. (DC News Now) — A land developer is seeking to relocate a 19th-century Black family’s remains, stoking concerns in a community already upended by data center development.
The site, located between Prince William County Parkway and Manassas Region Airport, was once home to the Staffords, a freed Black family of farmers in the 19th century.
Kathy Kulick of the county’s historical commission and vice chair of the group HOA Roundtable told DC News Now that the relocation plan is troubling as it won’t require oversight by the county board.
John Rinaldi, the attorney for landowner Nottoway Inn Vienna LLC, said that a descendant of the Stafford family has been located out of state and eagerly agreed to the remains’ relocation.
“We’ve been in touch with the family member we could find, and he’s very much in favor of the relocation of the cemetery,” Rinaldi said.
Rinaldi noted that the family member, found …