The new documentary “Granite” is, among other things, a ghost story. It’s about a community left for dead that refuses to stay buried.

“It’s really revealing of how much history we’re not told,” says filmmaker Forest Veerhoff, who co-directed the 30-minute short film making its premiere at the Byrd Theatre on Saturday, March 7. “While Granite’s history is a Richmond story, it’s actually a very universal story that is [applicable] to many places in Virginia and in the country.”

The documentary, which Veerhoff lensed on “no budget” with co-director Logan Parham, tells how a once-thriving granite mining village in Chesterfield County (later annexed by the City of Richmond and renamed Stratford Hills) was transitioned from a community of small, African American-owned subsistence farms to a white suburb and a country club (Willow Oaks) — a textbook example of predatory development through urban renewal.

“We talk about Chippenham and Powhite Parkways being built and dissecting this place,” Parham says. “Unfortunately, the story of urban renewal and highway dissection is extremely common across the American South.”

“Granite” is also a survival story — thanks to the work of a local organization, The CommUNITY Foundation, which is helping to document memories and preserve the sole surviving structure from the era, the old Granite School House.

“The community itself, in terms of the historic infrastructure, is almost gone,” says Parham. “Thankfully, there’s so many descendants still in the area, and there’s even younger descendants who share the exact same values as their elders, which is amazing.”

Parham, field services manager for Preservation Virginia, has a personal connection to the story.

“I approached the foundation when I was living in [Stratford Hills],” he says. “As a preservationist, I wanted to learn more about what was clearly an undertold story.” Although the school house did make Preservation Virginia’s list of most endangered historic sites last year — it’s currently being used as a city storage facility — he’s quick to say that PV is not affiliated with the film. “It’s something I did on my own.”

According to “The Resurrection of Granite,” a self-published book written in 2024 by genealogist Rev. Samuel Hyde III, a group of freed slaves took up residence with their families along Old Cherokee Road in the latter part of the 19th century and began working at the granite quarries in the area. These laborers were responsible for unearthing stone that was used to construct, among others, the Virginia Capitol building as well as the monuments along Confederate Avenue and old City Hall.

Parham recalls a meeting that he had with foundation representatives where it was mentioned that the descendents would love to tell the community’s story in a documentary. “I said, you know what? I know just the person.”

He called his friend Veerhoff, an independent filmmaker living in New York City who had studied at Virginia Commonwealth University. “This would be a good opportunity for us to learn how to be storytellers,” he remembers of the pitch to his friend. “So we sort of entered into an agreement where [the foundation] would own the film… we were making it for them.”

Olufemi Shepsu, vice president of the foundation, feels that the miners’ important legacy should not be forgotten.

“Those granite stones were used all over the Eastern seaboard,” he told Style Weekly last year. In September 2024, the organization sponsored an event, The Granite Festival, a family-friendly cookout that centered itself on the area’s lost past. While that festival didn’t happen last year, the hope is to bring it back in 2026. They are also in talks with the city to turn the Granite schoolhouse into a museum that tells the community’s story.

For Veerhoff, working on the film gave him a new appreciation for Richmond history. “While we were making it, I was seeing things that were always around me in Richmond, and then understanding through the process of making the film, the deeper history of these things.”

The quarries were more than just a workplace.

“We found out through our interviews that there were people who were baptized in these quarries. It was a gathering place for the community that was spiritual in a way,” he adds.

Until Hyde’s book, and this documentary, the Granite story survived through word of mouth. “There is still an oral tradition with the descendants,” says Parham. “And obviously the goal with this documentary is to extend that oral tradition, to keep the spirit alive of this place, so that it can never disappear.”

The Byrd screening will be a chance to keep the oral history going.

“We’ll have a Q&A after the screening with some of the elders and folks who are doing other research.” Author Hyde will be among those in attendance, Parham says. “It’ll be an opportunity outside of the film for people to really dig into a story about urban renewal and about maintaining the character of a community as change goes on.”

What happens to the documentary after the March 7 premiere? The filmmakers aren’t sure.

“It’s sort of unclear at this time,” says Veerhoff. “We really hope we can get more eyes on it,” adds Parham, who would like to submit the doc to film festivals and, potentially, air it on public television. “The foundation ultimately owns the film, but I’d like to work with them to get it distributed. We just want people to see it, so they can learn something.”

“Granite” will screen at the Byrd Theatre on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. Tickets can be found here.