Free State was a community of free African Americans whose nucleus was a 224-acre tract that Amy Farrow, a free black woman, purchased in 1788. Her son Zachariah Bowles lived there and married Critta Hemings of Monticello, an older sister of Sally Hemings. Residents farmed and practiced trades, accumulated personal property, and did business with local whites. The small community expanded after the Civil War and by the early 20th century was home to the Free State Colored School and the Central Relief Association, a local benevolent society.