Pioneering Black family to be honoured by Regina with street renaming

A road on the northwestern edge of Regina is set to be renamed in honour of one of Saskatchewan’s pioneering Black families.

The City of Regina confirms Armour Road will be renamed after Edward LaFayette, though the renaming has not been scheduled yet.

In an interview, LaFayette’s sister, Carol LaFayette-Boyd, said Edward’s name was submitted to the city’s street name registry around the same time the family began planning a reunion to mark the 120th anniversary of her grandfather’s arrival.

Read more:

• LaFayette-Boyd showing no signs of slowing down
• New Canadians celebrate Canada Day at newcomer’s picnic
• Prairie Life and LEGO voyage shown for Black History Month at RPL

According to the street name listing, Edward LaFayette, who died in 2020, co-founded L&B Roofing Ltd. in 1971 and served with various construction-related organizations.

“He was the first contractor of African-Canadian heritage to hold the title of President of the Saskatchewan Roofing Contractors Association, which awarded him their ‘Distinguished Service Award’ in June 2002 in recognition of his many years of continuous service,” the biography stated.

Their grandparents, Lewis and Lillie LaFayette, first arrived in Regina from Iowa in 1906, but soon relocated to a homestead in the Rosetown district.

The name is connected to history. An ancestor was a slave, who spied for the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Afterward, he was granted his freedom by a general and took his name – LaFayette.

Carol LaFayette-Boyd.(Britton Gray/980 CJME file photo)

The potential renaming lined up with the family’s reunion plans for this summer.

“I was thinking that because my grandfather was one of the first people of African descent to reside in Regina – there had been others, I do believe – that we should have a park named after us,” LaFayette-Boyd explained.

She said the family had proposed renaming Rosemont Park and North West Boulevard, since many of them had lived in the Rosemont neighbourhood. Instead, the city proposed Armour Road.

“And we thought, well, that’s exciting because we’d already planned to have our family reunion at Turvey Centre, which is 100 Armour Road,” she said. However, the family was informed the renaming would only apply to the city’s portion and not the section located in the R.M. of Sherwood.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the reunion, which drew LaFayette family members from as far away as the U.S. and England.

LaFayette-Boyd is still tallying up the number of relatives who attended, but believes it was around 170.