Warnersville historians Dr. Johnny and Brenda Hodge wrote, “It was the first Black community in the county where people could own their own homes, build their own churches, own land, run their own businesses and educate their own children.” Until they couldn’t. Redevelopment changed the landscape of Warnersville in the 1960s, but the spirit of the community continued, and in time influenced social change well beyond its borders.

Warnersville was recognized as Greensboro's first Heritage Community in 2015. Named for Pennsylvania Quaker Yardley Warner, it was the first planned African American community in the area.

After the Civil War ended in 1865 Pennsylvania Quaker Yardley Warner purchased 35½ acres of land south of Greensboro and divided it into plots to be sold to African Americans. He divided the land into plots and made them available to "freedmen."

Harmon Unthank was one of the first landowners and became the unofficial mayor of Warnersville in the 1870s. Like many others he started a business; his was making coffins and repairing stoves. He also became involved in local and state politics, which was possible for blacks before the Jim Crow era.

Warnersville grew throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There were several churches in the community including some of Greensboro's oldest congregations such as St. Matthews United Methodist Church (founded in 1864) and New Zion Baptist Church (1897), as well as schools such as Ashe Street School and Graded School Number 2 for Colored Children (1898-1922), Jacksonville School (1909-1954), and J.C. Price School (1922-1983). Many Black-owned businesses thrived in the community, especially along Ashe Street.

Warnersville was virtually cleared-destroyed by the federal Urban Renewal Program in the 1960s.

Narrative source: https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/.../heritage.../warnersville