Joseph Rainey House

The Home of the First African American Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

This property was purchased by Joseph Rainey on May 20, 1874, and he owned it for the remainder of his life. It was used by his family as a summer residence. Rainey is best known for being the first African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving for the State of South Carolina. He was elected to five terms, holding office from 1870 to 1879, and during this period introduced petitions for the passage of civil rights legislation that would guarantee African Americans their full constitutional rights. He dramatized his stand on the issue of access to public accommodation by his refusal to leave the dining room of a hotel in Suffolk, Virginia, forcing the owners to remove him from the premises. The Rainey family was active in the First Church of Windsor, and in 1876 Rainey spoke at the town’s observance of the American Centennial celebration.

This site is privately owned and not open to the public.

This is one of six Freedom Trail sites in Windsor.