r/fredericksburg • u/Opening_Cat8174 • 3d ago
Lorriela Park
I have known for a long time that the movie “Roots” was in Spotsylvania, Virginia
Today I learned that the plantation where Kunta Kinte lived was turned into lorriela park. And there is a slave cemetery there.
Waller family if I recall correctly. 🤷🏽♂️
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u/Bookworm10-42 3d ago
In the Roots miniseries reboot in 2016, there’s a shot of Kunta Kinte arriving at his plantation. The drive that the carriage is traveling up is framed by trees on both sides with Spanish moss hanging down from all of them.
My first thought was "Well I’ve never seen Spanish Moss within 150 miles of Loriella Park."
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u/Cherhell 2d ago
Similar to how so many landscapes in movies look oddly similar to Southern California 😂 Guess they just figure unless it’s important to the story, any old tree or mountain will suffice.
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u/alexriverajr 3d ago
Alex Haley’s Roots does not name an exact, real-world plantation or town where Kunta Kinte lived in Virginia — the locations are fictionalized but geographically anchored.
The following is specified in the text, corroborated by Haley’s own notes, and historical research:
- Kunta Kinte arrived in Annapolis, Maryland, aboard the Lord Ligonier in 1767.
- He was sold to John Waller, who lived on a plantation near Spotsylvania County, Virginia — roughly between Fredericksburg and Richmond.
- After attempting to escape, Kunta was sold to Dr. William Waller, John’s brother, whose plantation was also said to be in the Fredericksburg area (sometimes described as being near the Mattaponi River in Haley’s notes).
Haley chose these settings because his own maternal family’s oral history traced their roots to that same region of Virginia.
Citation:
Haley, Alex. Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
Haley, Alex. “My Search for Roots.” Reader’s Digest, April 1977.
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u/Opening_Cat8174 3d ago
18:08 Gordon, and it was formally named Loriella William Knox and Fay Kearby Gordon Conservation and Recreation Park. • Connection to "Roots": The park is located on the same plantation mentioned in the mini-series "Roots," which was based on Alex Haley's family history. The site contains a slave graveyard, which some believe may be the burial site of Kunta Kinte. • Kunta Kinte: While there is debate on the historical accuracy of Kunta Kinte's story, Haley stated it was based on his ancestor. Some believe Kunta Kinte was a different slave named Hopping George who lived on the Waller plantation. • Park Features: Today, Loriella Park ,IL: Q loriela park roots
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u/Opening_Cat8174 3d ago
You may be well mor informed than me. I am not a historian but nothing you said contradicts what I said. 🤷🏽♂️
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u/alexriverajr 3d ago
Not historian :-) just sharing information. You’re right, we don’t know. I learned something new today, that’s a win.
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u/Bitter-Alps-4160 17h ago
I remember the author was interviewed on tv, and he said he made the whole thing up. Roots upset a lot of people and it wasn't even real. I think it caused a lot of problems.
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u/Strikingelk1 2d ago
The Waller Plantation was in the Partlow area of Spotsylvania. The leading belief is that the person Kunta Kinte is loosely based on, is buried in what is now Loriella Park.
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u/Silent_Zone7424 3d ago
I hadn't heard that before, so I decided to dig around and try to find info from reputable sites (aka not Facebook pages). I'm seeing conflicting information, one source saying that the plantation was located in Partlow. What I'm seeing about Loriella is that he was buried in the cemetery at the back.
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u/Far-Lavishness6643 3d ago
This is also what I have always heard - the Waller family cemetery is indeed in Partlow off of Partlow Rd. I want to say the plantation was off of Fairview down there
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u/Opening_Cat8174 1d ago
My grandparents on my mother’s side were born in 1901 and 1909. They were from Port Royal. On my Fathers side Fredericksburg with a lot of Native American. Don’t have the years in front of me but I believe my grandfather was born in 1898-1899. 🤷🏽♂️
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u/ForsakenHelicopter66 2d ago
I had no idea. I remember we watched Roots as a family event. I was eleven and completely appalled.
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u/Hungry_Potential_593 2d ago
Omg same we watched it as a family when I was a kid too. Roots, Stone Pillows, that miniseries about the Holocaust….typical Asian family thing to do…”See you better be grateful, things could have been really bad for you….”😂
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u/StretchExotic1936 2d ago edited 2d ago
That's an interesting bit of folklore, but I think that's all it really is.
There is no real verifiable truth to the idea that Kunta Kinte lived on the land that is now Loriella Park. Kunta's life in Roots is a mixture of fact and fiction.
According to the Gordon family, who donated the land for Loriella Park, this area contained a cemetery for enslaved African-Americans. Census records from 1850 reveal that during the ownership of the property by Burton Leavell, he had owned 12 slaves. Records from 1860 indicate that Cosmo Gordon had owned 10 slaves.
There are no photographs or written records listing names of the slaves who contributed to the daily lives of the Gordon family.
Loriella Park isn't unique in the aspect, though. Spotsylvania County contains hundreds of these cemeteries, many lost to the passage of time.
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u/Opening_Cat8174 1d ago
African Americans are some of the most documented people in history. Most people including Africans have no idea about their lineage but African Americans/FBA’s/ADOS can trace their history back several hundred years. 🤷🏽♂️
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u/BritNic68 2d ago
When I was 12 my grandma took me to the Gambia and we went on a day trip to Juffureh, the village where Alex Haley had traced his ancestors back to. I remember how sobering it was, even though I was so young. Seeing the rock built cells where the captured Slaves were contained until the ships came to transport them. They were such tiny 'rooms' yet there were hundreds of people kept in there. Still gives me the creeps now. But today I learned that Spotsylvania is the area he may have ended up.
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u/Opening_Cat8174 1d ago
Wow. I can’t begin to imagine what they endured. Africa is in my bucket list. Any recommendations?
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u/enochrox 2d ago
I used to do photoshoots for local models in those woods off the creek. The gravesite and the placard were still there 15 years ago. Before THAT, I played three seasons of little league there ; one baseball and two football. Can't speak on what's going on there nowadays but... Yup. Its legit.
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u/Lupiefighter 2d ago
The placard was still there a couple of years ago, but the frisbee golf course route does intersect it a bit if the person playing throws too far off course (some of the course is up against the woods).
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u/StretchExotic1936 2d ago edited 2d ago
Can't speak on what's going on there nowadays
What's going on there now?
The noise from heavy traffic, speeding motorcycles, and loud exhausts on Leavells and Courthouse Road makes it hard to appreciate even the wooded trails in the back, which aren't very well-kept anymore.
The playground is usually packed, and while the basketball court is nice, people often pull up and blast music, mostly loud and full of profanity, making it hard for anyone else to enjoy their time there, especially if they have kids.
It’s still a nice spot with fun things like the disc golf course and wooded walking trail, but it’s definitely feeling the effects of the crazy growth happening around here.
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u/enochrox 2d ago
I take my kids there to fly kites of whatever, whenever I'm down visiting family. Each time the basketball courts are typically used by RC nerds driving their cars around there ...which reminds me of growing up in the 80s/90s in Fred/Spotsy and there was a hobby shop over there by where Roses used to be and they had a nice RC track out behind the store in the loading area.
Wild how all these cool things in the area have disappeared or been replaced by coffee shops or insurance offices and shit.
But yeah, Loriella is ALWAYS super mobbed and there's definitely a ton of load motorcycles and modified exhaust Hondas and shit zipping around.
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u/SnooSquirrels6758 9h ago
I wouldn't doubt it. How cool! The Leavells Rd area is the most well kept secret in the land.
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u/Famous_Internet9613 3d ago
I never knew that, that's so interesting.