The Legacy Project

Smithville is more than a neighborhood. It is a historic African American community built through faith, family, resilience, and generations of people who worked to create a place they could call home.

Founded in 1968 by longtime Smithville community leaders, Smithville Community Coalition is a community led nonprofit working to preserve, protect, and revitalize this important community. Our mission is to create and execute a neighborhood led, comprehensive Historic Smithville revitalization plan that serves residents’ needs, restores the community’s vibrance, supports an abundant and equitable life for all, and expands affordable and workforce housing in the Town of Cornelius.

The Smithville Legacy Project is one of the ways we are protecting the community’s history while building its future. The project includes the restoration of the historic Nelson House and the creation of the Legacy Brick Monument.

The Nelson House is an important part of Smithville’s history. Restoring this historic home will protect a physical piece of the community and create a place where Smithville’s stories, culture, and contributions can be shared with future generations. At a time when historic African American communities are rapidly changing, preserving places like the Nelson House is essential. Once these buildings and stories are lost, they cannot be replaced.

The Legacy Brick Monument will provide another lasting way to honor the families, residents, churches, businesses, and community leaders who helped make Smithville what it is today. Each brick will represent a name, a memory, or a connection to Smithville. Together, the bricks will tell a larger story of strength, sacrifice, love, and determination.

This work is about more than preserving buildings and names. It is about making sure Smithville residents are not erased from the future of the community they helped build. It is about protecting seniors, helping longtime residents remain safely in their homes, preventing displacement, and creating opportunities for new generations to live and thrive in Smithville.

Your support through Give 8/28 will help Smithville Community Coalition continue restoring the Nelson House, completing the Legacy Brick Monument, and preserving the history and stories of this treasured community.

When you give to the Smithville Legacy Project, you are helping us protect more than history. You are helping us honor the people who came before us, strengthen the community today, and build a future where Smithville’s legacy continues for generations to come.

Preserving History. Building the Future.

The Legacy Project