my family lived on sappony street on pocahontas island in dinwiddie which is now part of petersburg. it was the largest settlement of free black people in the united states and the archaeological evidence in that place dates back 6.5 million years. the island was given to pocahontas and john rolfe's son by pocahontas' father chief powhatan. he told his grandson he could do whatever he wanted with it and his choice was to open it up for residence and business enterprise among free black people. it is a very rich history associated with black people being proud of a community of their own. in fact, petersburg/dinwiddie was the inspiration for free black communities all over the united states. even harlem and other northern cities took their cue from pocahontas island. it still stands today. there is a street there called sappony.