Ilda

Ilda was a community at the intersection of Guinea Road and Little River Turnpike that arose after the Civil War and lasted into the first half of the twentieth century. It began when two freedmen, Horace Gibson and Moses Parker, bought property from the Gooding family on the north side of the turnpike and established a blacksmith shop. Over time, a racially mixed community developed there and included a post office. According to tradition, the name Ilda was a contraction of Matilda Gibson Parker. Descendants of Gibson and Parker were probably buried in a nearby cemetery, perhaps originally created for Gooding family slaves, and the remains were relocated in 2008.

Long Branch, Virginia · United States