Around 1925, local African American contractor Charles Coles built this funeral parlor with an upstairs residence, and J. F. Bell Funeral Home moved here from its original location on Vinegar Hill. It is the oldest family-run funeral home in central Virginia, as well as the area's oldest existing business owned by people of color. The Bell family has contributed to the community over the years. Raymond Bell was widely admired for his work as Public Relations Chair of the local NAACP during desegregation, and later as the first African American to serve on the Charlottesville School Board.