Richmond:: A Historic Walking Tour

By Keshia A. Case

Images of America: Richmond: A Historic Walking Tour guides readers through one of the earliest cities in the United States. The book offers stories about settlers and Native Americans, our Founding Fathers, and even famous celebrities such as Elvis Presley, who made a visit to the Jefferson Hotel. Presented in this book are several walking tours, including one through Capitol Square, home to the Thomas Jefferson-designed state capitol; a stroll down Monument Avenue, one of the first streets to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places; and even a ramble through Hollywood Cemetery, the picturesque 19th-century resting spot for many celebrated historical figures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439637753

Keshia A. Case

Author Keshia A. Case, founder of About Town Tours, LLC, guides groups through the historic areas of Richmond. Case earned a master's degree in art history with an emphasis on architectural history from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). The author has gathered historical facts working in several of the local museums. With the assistance of VCU Libraries' Special Collections and Archives, Case has assembled a fantastic journey of vintage images for natives and visitors to gain an appreciation of Richmond's magnificent history.

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INTRODUCTION

The city of Richmond’s story begins with thousands of Native Americans calling the area home. In the 17th century, English settlers ported on the James River and the River City was discovered by Christopher Newport. Images of America: Richmond: A Historic Walking Tour will provide a glimpse of the past in the present day through nine guided walking tours.

These Richmond travels will begin with Tour No. 1 of Virginia’s Capitol Square. Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clerisseau designed the state building based on an ancient Roman temple, the Maison Carree in Nimes, France. When Queen Elizabeth II came to visit Richmond on May 3, 2007, for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the Virginia state capitol was one of her first stops. A visitor can easily spend an afternoon on Capitol Square, tour the capitol building, visit the monuments, and have lunch at the Library of Virginia and researching their ancestry. Capitol Square is the perfect place to start a Richmond adventure.

Tour No. 2 is the Museum District. Start at the Virginia Historical Society. The Story of Virginia exhibition beings with tales of the Native Americans and takes visitors along the state’s journey to modern heroes. There are seven museums that make up the Museums on the Boulevard and include the Virginia Historical Society, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Maymont, the Children’s Museum of Richmond, the Science Museum of Virginia, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Information on all of these museums is provided in this book.

Tour No. 3 is Richmond’s most famous boulevard, Monument Avenue. This tour is a 3-mile walk. Begin with the newest man on the block, tennis great Arthur Ashe. While visitors stroll, they will visit statues of Matthew F. Maury, known as the Pathfinder of the Seas; Civil War general Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson; Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy; Civil War general Robert E. Lee; and Civil War cavalry general James Ewell Brown Jeb Stuart. The largest house on Monument Avenue, the John Kerr Branch House, is open to the public as the Virginia Center for Architecture. There are several other houses on the tour and many churches to admire along this avenue.

Get ready for a tour of architectural styles, because Tour No. 4 will guide visitors down Richmond’s Fifth Avenue, West Franklin Street. The local chamber of commerce used this name in publications because many wealthy Richmonders lived on this street. The styles include Greek Revival, Italianate, Richardsonian, and more. There is even a house inspired by a European palace. This tour will surely please the eyes, as visitors learn not only about the architectural features of the houses, but also the history of the families who called the Fifth Avenue of Richmond home.

Tour No. 5 takes visitors through the Fan District of the Monroe Park campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. The Fan District is named for the shape of the area, with the streets stretching out like a fan from Monroe Park to the Boulevard. The Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia merged in 1968 to form Virginia Commonwealth University. The Monroe Park campus of the university is in the Fan District of Richmond. The Medical campus is in the Court End neighborhood of Richmond.

Tour No. 6 takes visitors westward, bound to Oregon—not the state but the hill. Oregon Hill is a working-class neighborhood that was established for families who were employed in nearby factories. Included in this tour is Hollywood Cemetery, which gained its name not from the movie city in California but from the holly trees that greet visitors at the entrance of the cemetery. Tourists are encouraged to get a map from the small chapel building, which serves as the cemetery office.

Back to Richmond’s origins, Tour No. 7 goes through Richmond’s oldest areas—Church Hill and Shockoe Bottom. The street plan for the city of Richmond began when William Byrd II sold parcels of his land in a lottery to help pay off his gambling debts. The area of Church Hill was one of the first residential sites in Richmond and includes the city’s largest collection of antebellum houses. William Byrd II named the city after Richmond, near London. He said that the view on the hill overlooking the water reminded him of that English town on the Thames. Today there is a plaque in Libby Park with an image of the English town. Richmond played a vital role in the Revolutionary War. At St. John’s Church, Patrick Henry gave his infamous Give me Liberty, or Give me Death speech in 1775. Going down Church Hill into Shockoe Bottom, visit the Poe Museum and the Seventeenth Street Market, Richmond’s oldest outdoor market that dates back to when the Native Americans traded with English settlers.

Tour No. 8 takes visitors through the areas around Leigh Street to Richmond’s Court End, Jackson Ward, and Broad Street. Court End was established in the early 19th century with homes for lawyers and statesmen who worked at the capitol. One famous resident was U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall. On the tour, visitors can see the home that Alexander Parris, an architect from Boston, designed for the lawyer John Wickham and his family of 17 children. The Wickham house is now a part of the Valentine Richmond History Center. Down Leigh Street going west is the Jackson Ward neighborhood. Big-name performers like Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Bill Bojangles Robinson, and James Brown performed here. Jackson Ward was also home to the first woman to charter and become president of an American bank, Maggie L. Walker. Her house is a U.S. National Historic Site. Located not far from Jackson Ward is Broad Street, which starts out east in Church Hill and runs west into Short Pump.

To close the book, Tour No. 9 showcases a few additional sights to explore. A journey by car will allow access to some of the other areas of interest. Take a walk through the University of Richmond, Windsor Farms, Ginter Park, or Forest Hill Park.

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