(Thus do we reach the stars)
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State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, subdivision_name1 =
, established_date = 1742
,
, named_for =
Richmond, United Kingdom
, government_type =
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Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
, leader_name =
Levar Stoney
Levar Marcus Stoney (born March 20, 1981) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 80th mayor of Richmond, Virginia. He served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 through 2016, the youngest member ...
(
D)
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, population_rank
=
100th in the United States
4th
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
in Virginia
, population_total = 226610
, population_as_of =
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, population_density_sq_mi = 3782
, population_metro = 1,263,617 (
44th)
, population_demonym = Richmonder
, postal_code_type =
ZIP Codes
, postal_code = 23173, 23218–23242, 23249–23250, 23255, 23260–23261, 23269, 23273–23274, 23276, 23278–23279, 23282, 23284–23286, 23288–23295, 23297–23298
, area_code =
804
__NOTOC__
Year 804 (Roman numerals, DCCCIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Abbasid Caliphate
* Battle of Krasos: Emperor Nikephoros I refuses to pay th ...
, area_code_type =
Area code
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...
, website =
, footnotes =
Prior to 1071 –
Richemont
Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells je ...
: a town in Normandy, France.
1071 to 1501 –
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
: a castle town in Yorkshire, UK.
1501 to 1742 –
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, a palace town in London, UK.
1742 to present – Richmond, Virginia.
, timezone =
EST
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EDT
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FIPS code
The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military, American ...
, blank_info = 51-67000
, blank1_name =
GNIS
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...
feature ID
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, area_total_km2 = 162.05
, area_land_km2 = 155.20
, area_water_km2 = 6.85
, population_density_km2 = 1484.75
Richmond () is the capital city of the
Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United Stat ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is the center of the Richmond
Metropolitan Statistical Area
In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...
and the
Greater Richmond Region
The Greater Richmond Region, the Richmond metropolitan area or Central Virginia, is a region and metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Virginia, centered on Richmond, Virginia, Richmond. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines the ...
. Richmond was incorporated in 1742 and has been an
independent city
An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province).
Historical precursors
In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...
since 1871. At the
2010 census, the city's population was 204,214;
in 2020, the population had grown to 226,610,
making Richmond the
fourth-most populous city in Virginia. The Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,260,029, the
third-most populous metro in the state.
Richmond is at the
fall line
A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...
of the
James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
, west of
Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
, east of
Charlottesville
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...
, east of
Lynchburg and south of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Surrounded by
Henrico and
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
counties, the city is at the intersections of
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...
and
Interstate 64
Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange w ...
and encircled by
Interstate 295,
Virginia State Route 150
State Route 150 (SR 150) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Chippenham Parkway, the state highway runs from Interstate 95 (I-95) and SR 895 in Bensley north to Parham Road and River Road near Tuckahoe in Henrico Count ...
and
Virginia State Route 288
State Route 288 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is a freeway-standard partial beltway around the southwest side of the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area in portions of Goochland, Powhatan, and Chesterfield cou ...
. Major suburbs include
Midlothian
Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...
to the southwest, Chesterfield to the south,
Varina to the southeast,
Sandston to the east,
Glen Allen to the north and west,
Short Pump to the west and
Mechanicsville to the northeast.
The site of Richmond had been an important village of the
Powhatan Confederacy
The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...
, and was briefly settled by English colonists from
Jamestown from 1609 to 1611. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737. It became the capital of the
Colony and Dominion of Virginia
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...
in 1780, replacing Williamsburg. During the
Revolutionary War period, several notable events occurred in the city, including
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...
's "
Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech in 1775 at
St. John's Church St. John's Church, Church of St. John, or variants, thereof, (Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Baptist, but also, sometimes, to John the Apostle or John the Evangelist) may refer to the following churches, former churches or other ...
, and the passage of the
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was drafted in 1777 by Thomas Jefferson in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and introduced into the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond in 1779. On January 16, 1786, the Assembly enacted the statute into the st ...
written by
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
. During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Richmond was the capital of the
Confederacy. It entered the 20th century with one of the world's first successful electric
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
systems. The
Jackson Ward
Jackson Ward is a historically African-American district in Richmond, Virginia with a long tradition of African-American businesses. It is located less than a mile from the Virginia State Capitol, sitting to the west of Court End and north of Broa ...
neighborhood is a traditional hub of
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
commerce and culture.
Richmond's economy is primarily driven by law, finance, and government, with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as notable legal and banking firms in the
downtown area. The city is home to both a
U.S. Court of Appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fro ...
, one of 13
such courts, and a
Federal Reserve Bank
A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...
, one of 12
such banks. There are several
''Fortune'' 500 companies headquartered in the city including:
Dominion Energy
Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is a North American power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas t ...
,
WestRock
WestRock is an American corrugated packaging company. It was formed in July 2015 after the merger of MeadWestvaco and RockTenn. WestRock is the 2nd largest American packaging company. It is one of the world's largest paper and packaging companies ...
,
Performance Food Group
Performance Food Group Company (PFG) is an American company that was founded in 1885 in Richmond, Virginia, by food peddler James Capers. Headquartered in Goochland County, Virginia (just outside Richmond), the company distributes a range of fo ...
,
CarMax
CarMax, Inc. is a used vehicle retailer based in the United States. It operates two business segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The corporate entity behind the formation of CarMax was Circuit City Stores, Inc. The first ...
, ARKO, and
Altria
Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in ...
with others, such as
Markel, in the metropolitan area.
History
Colonial era
After the first permanent English-speaking settlement was established in April 1607, at
Jamestown, Virginia
The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James (Powhatan) River about southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was ...
,
Captain Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport (1561–1617) was an English seaman and privateer. He is best known as the captain of the ''Susan Constant'', the largest of three ships which carried settlers for the Virginia Company in 1607 on the way to found the settle ...
led explorers northwest up the
James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
to an inhabited area within the
Powhatan
The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...
Nation.
The earliest European settlement in Central Virginia was in 1611 at
Henricus
The "Citie of Henricus"—also known as Henricopolis, Henrico Town or Henrico—was a settlement in Virginia founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1611 as an alternative to the swampy and dangerous area around the original English settlement at Jamestow ...
, where the
Falling Creek empties into the James River. In 1619 early
Virginia Company
The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day Main ...
settlers struggling to establish viable moneymaking industries established the
Falling Creek Ironworks
Falling Creek Ironworks was the first iron production facility in North America. It was established by the Virginia Company of London in Henrico Cittie (sic) on Falling Creek near its confluence with the James River. It was short-lived due to ...
. After
decades of conflicts between the Powhatan and the settlers, the Falls of the James saw more White settlement in the late 1600s and early 1700s.
The
Battle of Bloody Run
The Battle of Bloody Run was fought during Pontiac's War on July 31, 1763, on what now is the site of Elmwood Cemetery in the Eastside Historic Cemetery District of Detroit, Michigan. In an attempt to break Pontiac's siege of Fort Detroit, ...
was fought near Richmond in 1656, after an influx of
Manahoac
The Manahoac, also recorded as Mahock, were a small group of Siouan-language Native Americans (Indigenous people) in northern Virginia at the time of European contact. They numbered approximately 1,000 and lived primarily along the Rappahannock R ...
s and
Nahyssans
The Tutelo (also Totero, Totteroy, Tutera; Yesan in Tutelo) were Native American people living above the Fall Line in present-day Virginia and West Virginia. They spoke a Siouan dialect of the Tutelo language thought to be similar to that of thei ...
from the North.
In 1737 planter
William Byrd II
William Byrd II (March 28, 1674August 26, 1744) was an American planter, lawyer, surveyor, author, and a man of letters. Born in Colonial Virginia, he was educated in London, where he practiced law. Upon his father's death, he returned to Virgi ...
commissioned
Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid. Byrd named the city after the English town of
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
near (and now part of) London, because the view of the bend in the James River at the fall line was similar to the view of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
from
Richmond Hill in England (which was in turn named after
Henry VII's ancestral town of
Richmond, North Yorkshire
Richmond is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, and the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is from the county town of Northallerton and situated on t ...
["Richmond", in '']Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
'', (9th edition, 1881), ''s.v.''), where he had spent time during his youth. The settlement was laid out in April 1737 and incorporated as a town in 1742.
Revolution
In 1775
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...
delivered his famous "
Give me liberty, or give me death" speech in
St. John's Church St. John's Church, Church of St. John, or variants, thereof, (Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Baptist, but also, sometimes, to John the Apostle or John the Evangelist) may refer to the following churches, former churches or other ...
in Richmond, crucial for deciding Virginia's participation in the
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...
and setting the course for revolution and independence.
[Grafton, John.]
The Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History: 1775–1864
." 2000, Courier Dover Publications, pp. 1–4. On April 18, 1780, the state capital was moved from the colonial capital of
Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
to Richmond, to provide a more centralized location for Virginia's increasing westerly population, as well as to isolate the capital from British attack.
[April dates in Virginia history]
."
Virginia Historical Society
.'' Retrieved on July 11, 2007. The latter motive proved to be in vain, and in 1781, under the command of
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...
, Richmond was burned by British troops, causing Governor
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
to flee as the Virginia militia, led by
Sampson Mathews
Sampson Mathews (c. 1737 – January 20, 1807) was an American merchant, soldier, and legislator in the colony (and later U.S. state) of Virginia.
A son of John and Ann (Archer) Mathews, Mathews was an early merchant in the Shenandoah Val ...
, defended the city.
Early United States
![Patrick Henry Rothermel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Patrick_Henry_Rothermel.jpg)
Richmond recovered quickly from the war, and by 1782 was once again a thriving city.
[Morrissey, Brendan.]
Yorktown 1781: The World Turned Upside Down
." Published 1997, Osprey Publishing, pp. 14–16. In 1786 the
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was drafted in 1777 by Thomas Jefferson in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and introduced into the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond in 1779. On January 16, 1786, the Assembly enacted the statute into the st ...
(drafted by
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
, 1743–1826) was passed at the temporary capitol in Richmond, providing the basis for the separation of church and state, a key element in the development of
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
in the United States.
[Peterson, Merrill D.; Vaughan, Robert C. ]
The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: Its Evolution and Consequences in American History
.'' Published 1988, Cambridge University Press. Retrieved on July 11, 2007. A permanent home for the new government, the
Greek Revival style
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
of the
Virginia State Capitol
The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. (The first two were Jamestown and Williamsburg.) It houses the oldest elected ...
building, was designed by Jefferson with the assistance of
Charles-Louis Clérisseau Charles-Louis Clérisseau (28 August 1721 – 9 January 1820) was a French architect, draughtsman, antiquary, and artist who became a leading authority on ancient Roman architecture and Roman ruins in Italy and France. With his influence extending t ...
and completed in 1788.
After the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
(1775–1783), Richmond emerged as an important industrial center. To facilitate the transfer of cargo from the flat-bottomed
James River bateau
The James River Bateau was a shallow draft river craft used during the period from 1775 to 1840 to transport tobacco and other cargo on the James River and its tributaries in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was flat bottomed and pointed at both ...
x above the fall line to the ocean-faring ships below,
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
helped design the
James River and Kanawha Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for a ...
from
Westham
Westham is a large village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is adjacent to Pevensey five miles (8 km) north-east of Eastbourne. The parish consists of three settlements: Westham; Stone Cross; a ...
east to Richmond, to bypass Richmond's rapids on the upper James River with the intent of providing a water route across the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
to the
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its valley has been a significant industrial region of the stat ...
flowing westward into the
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
then eventually to the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
. The legacy of the canal boatmen is represented by the figure in the center of the city flag. As a result of this and ample access to
hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...
due to the falls, Richmond became home to some of the country's largest manufacturing facilities, including iron works and flour mills, the largest of their kind in
the South. The resistance to the slave trade was growing by the mid-19th century; in one famous 1849 case,
Henry "Box" Brown
Henry Box Brown (c. 1815 – June 15, 1897) was a 19th-century Virginia slave who escaped to freedom at the age of 33 by arranging to have himself mailed in a wooden crate in 1849 to abolitionists in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
For a short tim ...
made history by having himself nailed into a small box and shipped from Richmond through
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
's
President Street Station
The President Street Station in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, is a former train station and railroad terminal. Built in 1849 and opened in February 1850, the station saw Baltimore riot of 1861, some of the earliest bloodshed of the Ame ...
northward on the
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881.
It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...
(a well-used "
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...
" route for escaping disguised slaves) to abolitionists in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, in the free state of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, escaping slavery.
[Switala, William J.]
The Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania
." Published 2001, Stackpole Books. pp. 1–4. By 1850 Richmond was connected by the
Richmond and Petersburg Railroad
The Richmond and Petersburg Railroad moved passengers and goods between Richmond and Petersburg from 1838 to 1898. It survived the American Civil War and eventually merged into the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1900.
History
The Richmond and Pe ...
to
Port Walthall
Port Walthall was a town located on the north bank of the Appomattox River in Chesterfield County, Virginia, Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States, a few miles upriver from its confluence with the James River at City Point, Virginia, City P ...
, where ships carrying over 200 tons of cargo could connect to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
or
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and passenger liners could reach
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
, through the
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
harbor. In the 19th century Richmond was connected to the North by the
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad compan ...
, which was later replaced by
CSXT
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
.
American Civil War
On April 17, 1861, five days after the Confederate attack on
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battl ...
, the state legislature voted to secede from the United States and join the newly created
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
. Official action came in May, after the Confederacy promised to move its national capital to Richmond from its temporary home in
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
. However, the new capital was at the end of a long supply line, which made it difficult to defend. For four years its defense required the bulk of the
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...
and the Confederacy's best troops and commanders. It became the main target of Union armies, especially in the campaigns of 1862 and 1864–65.
Richmond held local, state and national government offices. hospitals, a railroad hub, and one of the largest slave markets. It also had the largest arms factory during the war, the
Tredegar Iron Works
The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was the biggest ironworks in the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and a significant factor in the decision to make Richmond its capital.
Tredegar supplied about half the artillery used b ...
. It produced artillery and other munitions, including the 723 tons of armor plating that covered the
CSS ''Virginia'' the world's first
ironclad
An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...
warship used in war, as well as much of the Confederates' heavy
ordnance
Ordnance may refer to:
Military and defense
*Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment.
**The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...
machinery.
[Time-Life Books. ]
The Blockade: Runners and Raiders
''. Published 1983, Time-Life, Inc. The
Confederate States Congress
The Confederate States Congress was both the provisional and permanent legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned with measures to establish a new nat ...
shared quarters with the
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...
in
Jefferson's designed
Virginia State Capitol
The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. (The first two were Jamestown and Williamsburg.) It houses the oldest elected ...
, with the Confederacy's executive mansion, known as the "
White House of the Confederacy
The White House of the Confederacy is a historic house located in the Court End neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. Built in 1818, it was the main executive residence of the sole President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, f ...
", two blocks away on Clay Street. The
Seven Days Battles
The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, command ...
followed in late June and early July 1862, during which commanding Union General-in-Chief
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...
threatened to take Richmond in the
Peninsula campaign but failed.
Three years later, in March 1865, Richmond became indefensible after nearby
Petersburg and several remaining rail supply lines to the south and southwest were broken. On March 25 Confederate General
John B. Gordon's desperate attack on
Fort Stedman
The Battle of Fort Stedman, also known as the Battle of Hare's Hill, was fought on March 25, 1865, during the final weeks of the American Civil War. The Union Army fortification in the siege lines around Petersburg, Virginia, was attacked in a pr ...
east of Petersburg failed. On April 1 Federal Cavalry General
Philip Sheridan
General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close as ...
, assigned to interdict the Southside Railroad, met brigades commanded by Southern General
George Pickett
George Edward Pickett (January 16,Military records cited by Eicher, p. 428, and Warner, p. 239, list January 28. The memorial that marks his gravesite in Hollywood Cemetery lists his birthday as January 25. Thclaims to have accessed the baptism ...
at the
Five Forks junction, smashing them, taking thousands of prisoners, and encouraging Union General-in-Chief
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
to order a general advance. When the Union Sixth Corps broke through Confederate lines on the Boydton Plank Road south of Petersburg, Confederate casualties exceeded 5,000, about a tenth of Lee's defending army. Lee then informed President
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...
that he was about to evacuate Richmond.
![White House of the Confederacy - entrance, May 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/White_House_of_the_Confederacy_-_entrance%2C_May_2013.JPG)
The Confederate Army began the evacuation of Richmond on April 2, 1865. Davis and his cabinet, along with the government archives and Treasury gold, left the city by train that night, as government officials burned documents and departing Confederate troops burned tobacco and other warehouses to deny their contents to the victors. In the early a.m. of the following day, Confederate troops exploded the gunpowder magazine, resulting in the death of several paupers residing in the temporary Almshouse. It was on April 3, 1865, General
Godfrey Weitzel
Godfrey (Gottfried) Weitzel (November 1, 1835 – March 19, 1884) was a German-American major general in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was the acting Mayor of New Orleans during the Union occupation of the city and also captured ...
, commander of the 25th Corps of the
United States Colored Troops
The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments in the United States Army composed primarily of African-American (colored) soldiers, although members of other minority groups also served within the units. They were first recruited during ...
, accepted the city's surrender from the mayor and a group of leading citizens who remained. The Union troops eventually stopped the raging fires but about 25% of the city's buildings were destroyed.
President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
visited Grant at Petersburg on April 3, and took a launch to Richmond up the
James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
the next day, while Davis attempted to organize his remaining Confederate government further southwest at
Danville. Lincoln met Confederate assistant secretary of War
John A. Campbell, and handed him a note inviting Virginia's state legislature to end their rebellion. After Campbell spun the note to Confederate legislators as a possible end to the
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...
, Lincoln rescinded his offer and ordered Weitzel to prevent the former Confederate state legislature from meeting. Union forces killed, wounded or captured 8,000 Confederate troops at
Sayler's Creek southwest of Petersburg on April 6, as the Southerners continued a general retreat southwestward. Lee continued to reject Grant's surrender suggestions until Sheridan's infantry and cavalry moved around the shrinking
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...
and appeared in front of his withdrawing forces on April 8, cutting off the line of further retreat southwest. He surrendered his remaining approximately 10,000 troops at
Appomattox Court House Appomattox Court House could refer to:
* The village of Appomattox Court House, now the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, in central Virginia (U.S.), where Confederate army commander Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union commander Ulyss ...
, meeting Grant the following morning at the McLean Home. Davis was captured on May 10 near
Irwinville, Georgia
Irwinville is an unincorporated community in Irwin County, Georgia, United States.
Irwinville was founded as "Irwinsville" in 1831 as the seat for the newly formed Irwin County. The community was named for Georgia governor Jared Irwin. It was ...
, and taken back to Virginia, where he was imprisoned for two years at
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...
until freed on bail.
Postbellum
Richmond emerged a decade after the smoldering rubble of the Civil War to resume its position as an economic powerhouse, with iron front buildings and massive brick factories. Canal traffic peaked in the 1860s and slowly gave way to railroads, allowing Richmond to become a major railroad crossroads,
[Dunaway, Wayland F.]
History of the James River and Kanawha Company
." Published 1922, Columbia University. Retrieved on July 11, 2007. eventually including the site of the world's first triple railroad crossing. Tobacco warehousing and processing continued to play a role, boosted by the world's first cigarette-rolling machine, invented by
James Albert Bonsack
__NOTOC__
James Albert Bonsack (October 9, 1859,
. URL last accessed 2006-10-11. of
Roanoke in 1880/81. Contributing to Richmond's resurgence was the country's first successful electrically powered
trolley system, the
Richmond Union Passenger Railway
The Richmond Union Passenger Railway, in Richmond, Virginia, was the first practical electric Tram, trolley (tram) system, and set the pattern for most subsequent electric trolley systems around the world. It is an Institute of Electrical and E ...
. Designed by electric power pioneer
Frank J. Sprague
Frank Julian Sprague (July 25, 1857 in Milford, Connecticut – October 25, 1934) was an American inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators. His contributions were especially ...
, the system opened its first line in 1888, and electric streetcar lines rapidly spread to other cities.
[Smil, Vaclav. ]
Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867–1914 and Their Lasting Impact
.'' Published 2005, Oxford University Press, p. 94. Sprague's system used an overhead wire and trolley pole to collect current, with electric motors on the car's trucks.
[Harwood, Jr., Herbert H. ]
Baltimore Streetcars: The Postwar Years
.'' Published 2003, Johns Hopkins University Press, p. vii. Transition from streetcars to buses began in May 1947 and was completed on November 25, 1949.
20th century
![14th Street Bridge, Richmond, ca 1917](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/14th_Street_Bridge%2C_Richmond%2C_ca_1917.jpg)
By the beginning of the 20th century the city's population had reached 85,050 in , making it the most densely populated city in the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
.
[Gibson, Campbell.]
Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990
at WebCite
WebCite was an on-demand archive site, designed to digitally preserve scientific and educationally important material on the web by taking snapshots of Internet contents as they existed at the time when a blogger or a scholar cited or quoted ...
(July 10, 2007).." ''United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
'', June 1998. Retrieved on July 11, 2007. In 1900 the Census Bureau reported Richmond's population as 62.1% white and 37.9% black.
Freed slaves and their descendants created a thriving African-American business community, and the city's historic
Jackson Ward
Jackson Ward is a historically African-American district in Richmond, Virginia with a long tradition of African-American businesses. It is located less than a mile from the Virginia State Capitol, sitting to the west of Court End and north of Broa ...
became known as the "Wall Street of Black America". In 1903 African-American businesswoman and financier
Maggie L. Walker
Maggie Lena (née Draper Mitchell) Walker (July 15, 1864 – December 15, 1934) was a businesswoman and teacher. In 1903, Walker became both the first African American woman to charter a bank and the first African American woman to serve as ...
chartered St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and served as its first president.
Charles Thaddeus Russell
Charles Thaddeus Russell (June 19, 1875 – August 24, 1952) was an American architect who was one of the first two licensed African American architects in Virginia. He was the first to be licensed in Richmond, Virginia and he designed building ...
was Richmond's first black architect and he designed the building for Walker.
Walker was the first female bank president in the United States. Today the bank is called the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company and is the country's oldest surviving African-American bank.
[Felder, Deborah G.]
''A Century of Women: The Most Influential Events in Twentieth-Century Women's History''
, 1999, Citadel Press, p. 338. Other figures from this time included
John Mitchell Jr.
John Mitchell Jr. (July 11, 1863 – December 3, 1929) was an American businessman, newspaper editor, African American civil rights activist, and politician in Richmond, Virginia, particularly in Richmond's Jackson Ward, which became known as ...
In 1910 the former city of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
consolidated with Richmond, and in 1914 the city annexed Barton Heights, Ginter Park, and Highland Park in
Henrico County
Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico County is incl ...
.
[Chesson, Michael B.]
Richmond After the War, 1865 to 1890
." Published 1981, Virginia State Library, p. 177. In May 1914 Richmond became the headquarters of the
Fifth District of the Federal Reserve Bank.
Several major performing arts venues were constructed during the 1920s, including what are now the Landmark Theatre, Byrd Theatre, and Carpenter Theatre. The city's first radio station,
WRVA, began broadcasting in 1925.
WTVR-TV
WTVR-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Richmond, Virginia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. Its studios are located on West Broad Street on Richmond's West End, and its transmitter is located i ...
(CBS 6), Richmond's first television station, was the first TV station south of Washington, D.C.
[Tyler-McGraw, Marie.]
At the Falls: Richmond, Virginia, and Its People
." Published 1994, UNC Press, p. 257.
Between 1963 and 1965 there was a "downtown boom" that led to the construction of more than 700 buildings. In 1968
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
was created by the merger of the
Medical College of Virginia
The VCU Medical Center is Virginia Commonwealth University's medical campus located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, in the Court End neighborhood. VCU Medical Center used to be known as the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), which merged with the ...
with the
Richmond Professional Institute
The Richmond Professional Institute (RPI) was an educational institution established in 1917 which merged with the Medical College of Virginia to form Virginia Commonwealth University. RPI was located on what is now known as the Monroe Park Campus ...
.
[About VCU]
." ''Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
.'' Retrieved on July 11, 2007. In 1970 Richmond's borders expanded by an additional on the southside. After several years of court cases in which
Chesterfield County fought annexation, more than 47,000 former Chesterfield County residents found themselves within the city's perimeters on January 1, 1970.
[City of Richmond v. United States, 422 U.S. 358]
." 1975. ''United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.'' Retrieved on July 11, 2007. In 1996 still-sore tensions arose amid controversy involved in adding a statue of African American Richmond native and tennis star
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...
to the series of statues of Confederate generals on
Monument Avenue
Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. ...
.
[Edds, Margaret; Little, Robert. "Why Richmond voted to Honor Arthur Ashe on Monument Avenue. The Final, Compelling Argument for Supporters: A Street Reserved for Confederate Generals had no Place in this City." '']The Virginian-Pilot
''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Norfolk, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virginia ...
.'' July 19, 1995. After several months of controversy Ashe's bronze statue was finally completed, facing the opposite direction from the Confederate generals, on July 10, 1996.
[Staff Writer.]
Arthur Ashe Statue Set Up in Richmond at Last
." ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
.'' July 5, 1996. Retrieved on January 20, 2010.
A multimillion-dollar
flood wall
A flood wall (or floodwall) is a primarily vertical artificial barrier designed to temporarily contain the waters of a river or other waterway which may rise to unusual levels during seasonal or extreme weather events. Flood walls are mainly u ...
was completed in 1995 to protect low-lying areas of city from the oft-rising James River. As a result, the River District businesses grew rapidly, and today the area is home to much of Richmond's entertainment, dining and nightlife activity, bolstered by the creation of a Canal Walk along the city's former industrial canals.
[River District History]
."
Richmond River District
.'' Retrieved on July 11, 2007.[The Canal Walk]
"
Richmond.com
'' July 31, 2009. Retrieved on January 20, 2010.
Geography
![Richmond Virginia by Sentinel-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Richmond_Virginia_by_Sentinel-2.jpg)
Richmond is located at (37.538, −77.462). According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and of it (4.3%) is water.
The city is in the
Piedmont region of Virginia
The Piedmont region of Virginia is a part of the greater Piedmont physiographic region which stretches from the falls of the Potomac, Rappahannock, and James Rivers to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The region runs across the middle of the state fro ...
, at the James River's highest navigable point. The Piedmont region is characterized by relatively low, rolling hills, and lies between the low, flat
Tidewater
Tidewater may refer to:
* Tidewater (region), a geographic area of southeast Virginia, southern Maryland, and northeast North Carolina.
** Tidewater accent, an accent of American English associated with the Tidewater region of Virginia
* Tidewater ...
region and the
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...
. Significant bodies of water in the region include the
James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
, the
Appomattox River
The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in central and eastern Virginia in the United ...
, and the
Chickahominy River
The Chickahominy is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Virginia. The river, which serves as the eastern bo ...
.
The
Richmond-Petersburg
The Greater Richmond Region, the Richmond metropolitan area or Central Virginia, is a region and metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding terri ...
Metropolitan Statistical Area
In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...
(MSA), the
44th largest in the United States, includes the independent cities of Richmond,
Colonial Heights,
Hopewell, and
Petersburg, as well as the counties of
Charles City,
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
,
Dinwiddie,
Goochland,
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
,
Henrico,
New Kent,
Powhatan
The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...
, and
Prince George.
[The Richmond-Petersburg MSA at a Glance]
."
Richmond Regional Planning District Commission
.'' January 2006. Retrieved on July 12, 2007. On July 1, 2009, the Richmond—Petersburg
MSA's population was 1,258,251.
Richmond is located 21.69 miles north of
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...
, 66.10 miles southeast of
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...
, 79.24 miles northwest of
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
, 96.87 miles south of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and 138.72 miles northeast of
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...
.
Cityscape
![RichmondNSEW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/RichmondNSEW.png)
Richmond's original street grid, laid out in 1737, included the area between what are now Broad, 17th, and 25th Streets and the James River. Modern
Downtown Richmond
Downtown Richmond is the central business district of Richmond, Virginia. It is generally defined as being bound by Belvidere Street to the west, I-95 to the north and east, and the James River to the south. The Fan district borders it to t ...
is slightly farther west, on the slopes of Shockoe Hill. Nearby neighborhoods include
Shockoe Bottom
Shockoe Bottom (also known historically as Shockoe Valley) is an area in Richmond, Virginia, just east of downtown, along the James River. Located between Shockoe Hill and Church Hill, Shockoe Bottom contains much of the land included in Colone ...
, the historically significant and low-lying area between Shockoe Hill and
Church Hill, and Monroe Ward, which contains the
Jefferson Hotel. Richmond's East End includes neighborhoods like rapidly gentrifying
Church Hill, home to
St. John's Church St. John's Church, Church of St. John, or variants, thereof, (Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Baptist, but also, sometimes, to John the Apostle or John the Evangelist) may refer to the following churches, former churches or other ...
, as well as poorer areas like
Fulton
Fulton may refer to:
People
* Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship
* Fulton (surname)
Given name
* Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer
* Fult ...
, Union Hill, and Fairmont, and public housing projects like
Mosby Court, Whitcomb Court, Fairfield Court, and Creighton Court closer to
Interstate 64
Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange w ...
.
The area between Belvidere Street,
Interstate 195,
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...
, and the river, which includes
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
, is socioeconomically and architecturally diverse. North of Broad Street, the Carver and Newtowne West neighborhoods are demographically similar to neighboring
Jackson Ward
Jackson Ward is a historically African-American district in Richmond, Virginia with a long tradition of African-American businesses. It is located less than a mile from the Virginia State Capitol, sitting to the west of Court End and north of Broa ...
, with Carver experiencing some gentrification due to its proximity to VCU. The affluent area between the
Boulevard
A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway.
Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls.
In American usage, boulevards may ...
, Main Street, Broad Street, and VCU, known as the
Fan, is home to
Monument Avenue
Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. ...
, an outstanding collection of
Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
, and many students. West of the Boulevard is the Museum District, which contains the
Virginia Historical Society
The Virginia Museum of History and Culture founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history. It is a private, n ...
and the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...
. South of the
Downtown Expressway
State Route 195 (SR 195) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as the Downtown Expressway, the state highway runs from Interstate 195 (I-195) east to I-95 within the independent city of Richmond. SR 195 is a toll fre ...
are
Byrd Park
Byrd Park, also known as William Byrd Park, is a public park located in Richmond, Virginia, United States, north of the James River and adjacent to Maymont. The park includes a mile-long trail with exercise stops, monuments, an amphitheatre, an ...
,
Maymont
Maymont is a 100-acre (0.156 sq mi) Victorian estate and public park in Richmond, Virginia. It contains Maymont Mansion, now a historic house museum, an arboretum, formal gardens, a carriage collection, native wildlife exhibits, a nature cente ...
,
Hollywood Cemetery, the predominantly black working-class Randolph neighborhood, and white working-class
Oregon Hill
Oregon Hill is a historic working class, working-class neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia. Oregon Hill overlooks the James River (Virginia), James River and Belle Isle (Virginia), Belle Isle, and provides access to Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, ...
. Cary Street between Interstate 195 and the
Boulevard
A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway.
Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls.
In American usage, boulevards may ...
is a popular commercial area called
Carytown.
Richmond's Northside is home to numerous listed historic districts. Neighborhoods such as
Chestnut Hill-Plateau and Barton Heights began to develop at the end of the 19th century when the new streetcar system made it possible for people to live on the outskirts of town and still commute to jobs downtown. Other prominent Northside neighborhoods include Azalea, Barton Heights, Bellevue, Chamberlayne, Ginter Park, Highland Park, and Rosedale.
Farther west is the affluent, suburban
West End. Windsor Farms is among its best-known sections. The West End also includes middle- to low-income neighborhoods such as Laurel, Farmington and the areas surrounding the Regency Mall. More affluent areas include Glen Allen, Short Pump, and the areas of Tuckahoe away from Regency Mall, all north and northwest of the city. The
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...
and the Country Club of Virginia are located on this side of town near the Richmond-Henrico border.
The portion of the city south of the James River is known as the Southside. Southside neighborhoods range from the affluent and middle-class suburban Westover Hills, Forest Hill, Southampton, Stratford Hills, Oxford, Huguenot Hills, Hobby Hill, and Woodland Heights to the impoverished
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and Blackwell areas, the Hillside Court housing projects, and the ailing Jefferson Davis Highway commercial corridor. Other Southside neighborhoods include Fawnbrook, Broad Rock, Cherry Gardens, Cullenwood, and Beaufont Hills. Much of Southside developed a suburban character as part of
Chesterfield County before being annexed by Richmond, most notably in 1970.
Climate
![Richmond After the Flood (7790622530)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Richmond_After_the_Flood_%287790622530%29.jpg)
According to the Köppen climate classification, Richmond has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cfa''), with very hot, humid summers and moderately cold winters. The
Trewartha classification defines Richmond as Temperate Oceanic Climate due to winter chill.
The mountains to the west act as a partial barrier to outbreaks of cold, continental air in winter; Arctic air is delayed long enough to be modified, then further warmed as it subsides in its approach to Richmond. The open waters of the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
and Atlantic Ocean contribute to the humid summers and cool winters. The coldest weather normally occurs from late December to early February, and the January daily mean temperature is , with an average of 6.0 days with highs at or below the freezing mark.
Richmond's Downtown and areas south and east of downtown are in USDA
Hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
s 7b. Surrounding suburbs and areas to the north and west of Downtown are in Hardiness Zone 7a.
Temperatures seldom fall below , with the most recent subzero reading on January 7, 2018, when the temperature reached .
The July daily mean temperature is , and high temperatures reach or exceed approximately 43 days a year; temperatures are not uncommon but do not occur every year. Extremes in temperature have ranged from on January 19, 1940, up to on August 6, 1918. The record cold maximum is , set on
February 11 and 12, 1899. The record warm minimum is , set on July 12, 2011.
Precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
is rather uniformly distributed throughout the year. Dry periods lasting several weeks sometimes occur, especially in autumn, when long periods of pleasant, mild weather are most common. There is considerable variability in total monthly amounts from year to year so that no one month can be depended upon to be normal. Snow has been recorded during seven of the 12 months. Falls of or more within 24 hours occur once a year on average.
Annual snowfall is usually moderate, averaging per season.
Snow typically remains on the ground for only one or two days, but remained for 16 days in 2010 (January 30 to February 14). Ice storms (freezing rain or glaze) are not uncommon, but are seldom severe enough to do considerable damage.
The
James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
reaches tidewater at Richmond, where flooding may occur in any month of the year, most frequently in March and least in July.
Hurricanes
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
and
tropical storms
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dependi ...
have been responsible for most of the flooding during the summer and early fall months. Hurricanes passing near Richmond have produced record rainfalls. In 1955, three hurricanes brought record rainfall to Richmond within a six-week period. The most noteworthy were
Hurricane Connie
Hurricane Connie was a Category 4 hurricane that contributed to significant flooding across the eastern United States in August 1955, just days before Hurricane Diane affected the same general area. Connie formed on August 3 from a tropical ...
and
Hurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane was the first Atlantic hurricane to cause more than an estimated $1 billion in damage (in 1955 dollars, which would be $ today), including direct costs and the loss of business and personal revenue. It formed on August ...
, which brought heavy rains five days apart. In 2004, the downtown area suffered extensive flood damage after the remnants of
Hurricane Gaston dumped up to of rain.
Damaging storms occur mainly from snow and
freezing rain
Freezing rain is rain maintained at temperatures below freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike a mixture of rain and snow or ice pellets, freezing rain is made entirely of liquid droplets. The raind ...
in winter, and from hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms in other seasons. Damage may be from wind, flooding, rain, or any combination of these.
Tornadoes
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
are infrequent but some notable ones have been observed in the Richmond area.
Downtown Richmond averages 84 days of nighttime frost annually. Nighttime frost is more common in areas north and west of Downtown and less common south and east of downtown. From 1981 to 2010 the average first temperature at or below freezing was on October 30 and the average last one on April 10.
Demographics
The population of Richmond City, currently 226,000, may be misleading as Richmond is a continuous metropolitan area in the
Greater Richmond region
The Greater Richmond Region, the Richmond metropolitan area or Central Virginia, is a region and metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Virginia, centered on Richmond, Virginia, Richmond. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines the ...
that has an estimated population of about 1.3 million. Richmond City is surrounded by
Henrico County
Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico County is incl ...
which has a population of about 334,000.
2020 census
''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''
2010 Census
As of the
2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, there were 204,214 people living in the city. 50.6% were
Black or African American, 40.8%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 2.3%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.3%
Native American, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 3.6% of some other race and 2.3%
of two or more races. 6.3% were
Hispanic or Latino
''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...
(of any race).
![Race and ethnicity 2010- Richmond (5560433168)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Race_and_ethnicity_2010-_Richmond_%285560433168%29.png)
As of the census
of 2000, there were 197,790 people, 84,549 households, and 43,627 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 92,282 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 57.2%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 38.3%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.2%
Native American, 1.3%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 1.5% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.5% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 2.6% of the population.
There were 84,549 households, out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.1% were married couples living together, 20.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.4% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 21.8% under the age of 18, 13.1% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,121, and the median income for a family was $38,348. Males had a median income of $30,874 versus $25,880 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,337. About 17.1% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.9% of those under age 18 and 15.8% of those age 65 or over.
Crime
Richmond experienced a spike in overall crime, in particular the city's
murder rate
The list of countries by UNODC homicide rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 100,000 individuals per year. A mortality rate of 30 (out of 100,000) in a population of 100,000 would mean 30 deaths per year in that entire population, or ...
, during the 1980s, 1990s, and the early 2000s. It was consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States during that time.
From the late 2000s to present, various forms of crime have significantly decreased in the city.
Its major crime rate, including violent and property crimes, decreased 47 percent between 2004 and 2009 to its lowest level in more than a quarter of a century.
In 2008, Richmond had fallen to 49th on a
Morgan Quitno Press
Morgan Quitno Press is a research and publishing company founded in 1989 and based in Lawrence, Kansas. The company compiled annual reference books of US state and city statistics. Its primary volumes included State Rankings, Health Care State Ran ...
ranking of the most dangerous cities in the United States and the city had recorded the lowest homicide rate since 1971.
By 2012, Richmond was no longer in the 'top' 200.
In recent years, as in many other American cities, Richmond has witnessed a slight rise in homicides though violent crime and other forms of crime remain below the national average.
Religion
In 1786, the
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was drafted in 1777 by Thomas Jefferson in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and introduced into the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond in 1779. On January 16, 1786, the Assembly enacted the statute into the st ...
, penned in 1779 by
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
, was adopted by the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond. The site is now commemorated by the
First Freedom Center.
Richmond has several historic churches. Because of its early English colonial history from the early 17th century to 1776, Richmond has a number of prominent Anglican/Episcopal churches including
Monumental Church
Monumental Church is a former Episcopal church at 1224 E. Broad Street between N. 12th and College streets in Richmond, Virginia. Designed by architect Robert Mills, it is one of America's earliest and most distinctive Greek Revival churches. I ...
,
St. Paul's Episcopal Church and
St. John's Episcopal Church. Methodists and Baptists made up another section of early churches, and
First Baptist Church of Richmond was the first of these, established in 1780. In the
Reformed church
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
tradition, the first Presbyterian Church in the City of Richmond was First Presbyterian Church, organized on June 18, 1812. On February 5, 1845,
Second Presbyterian Church of Richmond was founded, which was a historic church where
Stonewall Jackson
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...
attended and was the first
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
building and the first
gas-lit church to be built in Richmond.
St. Peter's Church was dedicated and became the first Catholic church in Richmond on May 25, 1834. The city is also home to the historic
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart which is the
mother church
Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metro ...
for the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond
The Diocese of Richmond ( la, Diœcesis Richmondiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its current territory encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, Hampton Roads, ...
.
![Cathedral of the sacred heart](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Cathedral_of_the_sacred_heart.JPG)
The
first Jewish congregation in Richmond was Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalom. Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalom was the sixth congregation in the United States. By 1822 K.K. Beth Shalom members worshipped in the first synagogue building in Virginia. They eventually merged with
Congregation Beth Ahabah
Beth Ahabah ( he, House of Love) is a Reform synagogue in Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 1789 by Spanish and Portuguese Jews as Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome (Hebrew: Holy Congregation, House of Peace) it is one of the oldest synagogues in the Un ...
, an offshoot of Beth Shalom. There are two Orthodox Synagogues, Keneseth Beth Israel and Chabad of Virginia. There is an Orthodox
Yeshivah
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are stud ...
K–12 school system known as Rudlin Torah academy, which also includes a post high-school program. There are two Conservative synagogues, Beth El and Or Atid. There are two Reform synagogues, Beth Ahabah and Or Ami. Along with such religious congregations, there are a variety of other Jewish charitable, educational and social service institutions, each serving the Jewish and general communities. These include the Weinstein Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family Services, Jewish Community Federation of Richmond and
Richmond Jewish Foundation
Richmond Jewish Foundation is a charitable foundation based in Richmond, Virginia, USA. It is a non-profit organization.
Overview
The Richmond Jewish Foundation was established in 1979. Like a community foundation, it is an independent philan ...
.
Due to the influx of German
immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
in the 1840s,
St. John's German Evangelical church was formed in 1843. Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral held its first worship service in a rented room at 309 North 7th Street in 1917. The cathedral relocated to 30 Malvern Avenue in 1960 and is noted as one of two Eastern Orthodox churches in Richmond and home to the annual Richmond Greek Festival.
There are seven current
masjid
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...
s in the Greater Richmond area, with three more currently in construction, accommodating the growing Muslim population, the first one being Masjid Bilal. In the 1950s, Muslims from the East End got organized under Nation of Islam (NOI). They used to meet in Temple #24 located on North Avenue. After the NOI split in 1975, the Muslims who joined mainstream Islam, start meeting at Shabaaz Restaurant on Nine Mile Road. By 1976, the Muslims used to meet in a rented church. They tried to buy this church, but due to financial difficulties the Muslims instead bought an old grocery store at Chimbarazoo Boulevard, the present location of Masjid Bilal. Initially, the place was called "Masjid Muhammad #24". Only by 1990 did the Muslims renamed it to "Masjid Bilal". Masjid Bilal was followed by the Islamic Center of Virginia, ICVA masjid. The ICVA was established in 1973 as a non profit tax exempt organization. With aggressive fundraising, ICVA was able to buy land on Buford road. Construction of the new masjid began in the early 1980s. The rest of the five current masjids in the Richmond area are Islamic Center of Richmond (ICR) in the west end, Masjid Umm Barakah on 2nd street downtown, Islamic Society of Greater Richmond (ISGR) in the west end, Masjidullah in the north side, and Masjid Ar-Rahman in the east end.
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
is actively practiced, particularly in suburban areas of Henrico and Chesterfield. Some 6,000 families of Indian descent resided in the Richmond Region as of 2011. Hindus are served by several temples and cultural centers. The two most familiar are the Cultural Center of India (CCI) located off of Iron Bridge Road in Chesterfield County and the Hindu Center of Virginia in Henrico County which has garnered national fame and awards for being the first
LEED certified
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
religious facility in the commonwealth.
Seminaries
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
in Richmond include: the school of theology at
Virginia Union University
Virginia Union University is a private historically black Baptist university in Richmond, Virginia. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA.
History
The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Richm ...
; a Presbyterian seminary,
Union Presbyterian Seminary
Union Presbyterian Seminary is a Presbyterian seminary in Richmond, Virginia. It also has a non-residential campus in Charlotte, North Carolina and an online blended learning program.
History
As a result of efforts undertaken together by the S ...
, and the
Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond
Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR) was a free-standing seminary in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded in March 1989 by Virginia Baptists related to the Southern Baptist Alliance (now the Alliance of Baptists) and Baptist General Assoc ...
. The
McCollough Theological Seminary of the
United House of Prayer For All People
The United House of Prayer for All People of the Church on the Rock of the Apostolic Faith was founded by Cabo Verdean Marcelino Manuel da Graça. In 1919, Grace built the first United House of Prayer For All People in West Wareham, Massachusetts, ...
is located in the
Church Hill neighborhood of the city.
Bishops that sit in Richmond include those of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (the denomination's largest); the Richmond Area of the United Methodist Church (Virginia Annual Conference), the nation's second-largest and one of the oldest. The Presbytery of the James—Presbyterian Church (USA) – also is based in the Richmond area.
The
Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond
The Diocese of Richmond ( la, Diœcesis Richmondiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its current territory encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, Hampton Roads, ...
was canonically erected by
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...
on July 11, 1820. Today there are 235,816 Catholics at 146 parishes in the Diocese of Richmond. The city of Richmond is home to 19 Catholic parishes.
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is home to the current bishop, Most Reverend
Barry C. Knestout
Barry Christopher Knestout (born June 11, 1962) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Knestout has been serving as the 13th bishop of the Diocese of Richmond in Virginia since 2017.
Previously, Knestout served as the priest sec ...
, who was appointed by
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
on December 15, 2017.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
has three stakes in the greater Richmond area (a stake is an organizational unit that is made up of multiple congregations. As of December 31, 2017, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 95,379 members in 200 congregations within 22 stakes
across the state of Virginia). In April 2018, church president
Russell M. Nelson
Russell Marion Nelson Sr. (born September 9, 1924) is an American religious leader and retired surgeon who is the 17th and current president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Nelson was a member of the LDS Church ...
announced a new
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
to be built in Virginia. The first temple of the church to be built in the state, the temple is located in Glen Allen, Virginia, a northwest suburb of Richmond.
Economy
![Tobacco Warehouse Interior, Richmond, Virginia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Tobacco_Warehouse_Interior%2C_Richmond%2C_Virginia.jpg)
Richmond's strategic location on the
James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
, built on undulating hills at the rocky
fall line
A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...
separating the
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
and
Tidewater region
Tidewater refers to the north Atlantic coastal plain region of the United States of America.
Definition
Culturally, the Tidewater region usually includes the low-lying plains of southeast Virginia, northeastern North Carolina, southern Maryl ...
s of Virginia, provided a natural nexus for the development of commerce. Throughout these three centuries and three modes of transportation, the downtown has always been a hub, with the Great Turning Basin for boats, the world's only
triple crossing
Triple Crossing in Richmond, Virginia is one of two places in North America where three Class I railroads cross at different levels at the same spot, the other being Santa Fe Junction in Kansas City.
At the lowest (ground) level, the original R ...
of rail lines, and the intersection of two major interstates.
Law and finance have long been driving forces in the economy. Richmond is particularly known for its
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
court. The city is home to both the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Maryla ...
, one of 13
United States courts of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...
, and the
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is the headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve located in Richmond, Virginia. It covers the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and most of West Virginia ...
, one of 12
Federal Reserve Banks
A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...
, as well as offices for international companies such as
Genworth Financial
Genworth Financial is an S&P 400 insurance company. The firm was founded as The Life Insurance Company of Virginia in 1871. In 1986, Life of Virginia was acquired by Combined Insurance, which became Aon plc in 1987. In 1996, Life of Virginia was ...
,
Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the list o ...
,
Philip Morris USA
Philip Morris USA is the American tobacco division of the American tobacco corporation Altria, Altria Group.
History Creation
The company's namesake Philip Morris (tobacconist), Philip Morris was born in Whitechapel, United Kingdom in 1835, ...
, and numerous other banks and brokerages. Richmond is also home to three of the largest law firms in the United States:
Hunton & Williams
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is an American law firm created by the merger of Hunton & Williams LLP and Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP on April 2, 2018. The firm has offices in 20 cities, primarily in the United States.
History
Hunton & Williams (formerl ...
,
McGuireWoods
McGuireWoods LLP is a US-based international law firm. Their largest offices are in Richmond, Virginia, Charlotte, North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois.
History
1800s–1960s
McGuireWoods traces its origins to two lawyers, Egbert R. Watson and ...
, and
Williams Mullen
Williams Mullen is a regionally based, full-service law firm with more than 240 attorneys in offices across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The firm began in 1909. Williams Mullen is the third largest firm in Virginia based on attor ...
. Another law firm with a major Richmond presence is
Troutman Sanders
Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, known as Troutman Pepper, is an American law firm with more than 1,200 attorneys located in 23 U.S. cities. In terms of revenue it placed 47th on The American Lawyer's 2022 AmLaw 100 rankings of U.S. law fi ...
, which merged with Richmond-based Mays & Valentine LLP in 2001.
Since the 1960s Richmond has been a prominent hub for advertising agencies and advertising related businesses. One of the most notable Richmond-based agencies is
The Martin Agency
The Martin Agency American advertising agency based in Richmond, Virginia, that is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. The company's CEO is Kristen Cavallo.
History
The Martin Agency was founded as Martin & Woltz in Richmond, Virginia ...
, founded in 1965 and currently employing 500 people. As a result of local advertising agency support,
VCU's graduate advertising school (VCU Brandcenter) is consistently ranked the No. 1 advertising graduate program in the country.
Richmond is home to the rapidly developing Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, which opened in 1995 as an incubator facility for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Located adjacent to the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) Campus of
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
, the park currently has more than of research, laboratory and office space for a diverse tenant mix of companies, research institutes, government laboratories and non-profit organizations. The
United Network for Organ Sharing
The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is a non-profit, scientific and educational organization that administers the only Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) in the United States, established () by the U.S. Congress in 1984 b ...
, which maintains the nation's
organ transplant
Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transpo ...
waiting list, occupies one building in the park.
Philip Morris USA
Philip Morris USA is the American tobacco division of the American tobacco corporation Altria, Altria Group.
History Creation
The company's namesake Philip Morris (tobacconist), Philip Morris was born in Whitechapel, United Kingdom in 1835, ...
opened a $350 million research and development facility in the park in 2007. Once fully developed, park officials expect the site to employ roughly 3,000 scientists, technicians and engineers.
Richmond's revitalized downtown includes the Canal Walk, a new Greater Richmond Convention Center, and expansion on both
VCU campuses. A new performing arts center,
Richmond CenterStage
Richmond CenterStage is a performing arts center in Richmond, Virginia, that includes the Altria Theatre and the theatre formerly known as the Carpenter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts. The Carpenter Theatre was originally a Loew's Theat ...
, opened on September 12, 2009.
[Ruggieri, Melissa.]
Richmond CenterStage opens its doors Saturday
" ''Richmond Times-Dispatch
The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia.
Circulation
The ''Times-Dispatc ...
.'' September 9, 2009. Retrieved on January 20, 2010. The complex included a renovation of the Carpenter Center and construction of a new multipurpose hall, community playhouse, and arts education center in parts of the old Thalhimers department store.
Craft beer
Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
,
cider
Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...
and
liquor
Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...
production is also growing in the River City, with twelve micro-breweries in city proper; the oldest is Legend Brewery, founded in 1994. Two cideries, Buskey Cider and Blue Bee Cider, are located in the popular beverage neighborhood of
Scott's Addition
The Scott's Addition Historic District is a national historic district located in Richmond, Virginia.
History
Scott's Addition was named because it was a section of the 600-acre property inherited in 1818 by U.S Army General Winfield Scott fro ...
, and are joined by nine breweries, one meadery, and one distillery. Three
distilleries
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heating ...
, Reservoir Distillery, Belle Isle Craft Spirits and James River Distillery, were established in 2010, 2013 and 2014, respectively.
Additionally, Richmond is gaining attention from the film and television industry, with several high-profile films shot in the metro region in the past few years, including the major motion picture ''
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincoln ...
'' which led to
Daniel Day-Lewis
Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English retired actor. Often described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over four decades, incl ...
's third Oscar, ''
Killing Kennedy
''Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot'' is a 2012 non-fiction book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard about the assassination of the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy. It is a follow-up to O'Reilly's 2011 book '' Killing Linc ...
'' with
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...
, airing on the
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
and ''
Turn'', starring
Jamie Bell
Andrew James Matfin Bell (born 14 March 1986) is an English actor and dancer. He rose to prominence for his debut role in ''Billy Elliot'' (2000), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, becoming one of the youngest ...
and airing on
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** AM ...
. Richmond was the main filming location for the
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
drama series ''Mercy Street'', which premiered in Winter 2016. Several organizations, including the Virginia Film Office and the Virginia Production Alliance, along with events like the Richmond International Film Festival and French Film Festival, continue to draw supporters of film and media to the region.
Fortune 500 companies and other large corporations
![City of Richmond Business District](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/City_of_Richmond_Business_District.jpg)
The Greater Richmond area was named the third-best city for business by
MarketWatch
MarketWatch is a website that provides financial information, business news, analysis, and stock market data. Along with ''The Wall Street Journal'' and ''Barron's'', it is a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, a property of News Corp.
Histor ...
in September 2007, ranking behind only the Minneapolis and Denver areas and just above Boston. The area is home to six
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
companies: electric utility
Dominion Resources
Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is a North American power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas t ...
;
CarMax
CarMax, Inc. is a used vehicle retailer based in the United States. It operates two business segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The corporate entity behind the formation of CarMax was Circuit City Stores, Inc. The first ...
;
Owens & Minor;
Genworth Financial
Genworth Financial is an S&P 400 insurance company. The firm was founded as The Life Insurance Company of Virginia in 1871. In 1986, Life of Virginia was acquired by Combined Insurance, which became Aon plc in 1987. In 1996, Life of Virginia was ...
,
MeadWestvaco
MeadWestvaco Corporation was an American packaging company based in Richmond, Virginia. It had approximately 23,000 employees. In February 2006, it moved its corporate headquarters to Richmond. In March 2008, the company announced a change to sta ...
/
WestRock
WestRock is an American corrugated packaging company. It was formed in July 2015 after the merger of MeadWestvaco and RockTenn. WestRock is the 2nd largest American packaging company. It is one of the world's largest paper and packaging companies ...
, and
Altria Group
Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in ...
.
However, only Dominion Resources is headquartered within the city of Richmond; the others are located in the neighboring counties of
Henrico and
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
. In 2008, Altria moved its corporate HQ from New York City to Henrico County, adding another Fortune 500 corporation to Richmond's list. In February 2006,
MeadWestvaco
MeadWestvaco Corporation was an American packaging company based in Richmond, Virginia. It had approximately 23,000 employees. In February 2006, it moved its corporate headquarters to Richmond. In March 2008, the company announced a change to sta ...
announced that they would move from
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...
, to Richmond in 2008 with the help of the Greater Richmond Partnership,
a regional economic development organization that also helped locate
Aditya Birla Minacs
Minacs was a Canadian business and technology outsourcing company, headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario. The company provided outsourced customer life cycle, marketing, finance and accounting, procurement, and information technology services.
History ...
,
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
,
and
Honeywell International
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
,
to the region. In July 2015, MeadWestvaco merged with Georgia-based Rock-Tenn Company creating
WestRock
WestRock is an American corrugated packaging company. It was formed in July 2015 after the merger of MeadWestvaco and RockTenn. WestRock is the 2nd largest American packaging company. It is one of the world's largest paper and packaging companies ...
Company.
Other
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
companies, while not headquartered in the area, do have a major presence. These include SunTrust Banks (based in Atlanta),
Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the list o ...
(officially based in McLean, Virginia, but founded in Richmond with its operations center and most employees in the Richmond area), and medical and pharmaceutical giant McKesson Corporation (based in Las Colinas, Texas). Capital One and Philip Morris USA are two of the largest private Richmond-area employers. DuPont maintains a production facility in South Richmond known as the Spruance Plant. UPS Freight, the less-than-truckload division of United Parcel Service has its corporate headquarters in Richmond.
Other companies based in Richmond include engineering specialists CTI Consultants, chemical company NewMarket Corporation, NewMarket; Brink's, a security and armored car company; Estes Express Lines, a freight carrier, Universal Corporation, a tobacco merchant; Cavalier Telephone and TV, Cavalier Telephone, now Windstream, a telephone, internet, and digital television provider formed in Richmond in 1998; Cherry Bekaert & Holland, a top 30 accounting firm serving the Southeastern United States, Southeast; the law firm of
McGuireWoods
McGuireWoods LLP is a US-based international law firm. Their largest offices are in Richmond, Virginia, Charlotte, North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois.
History
1800s–1960s
McGuireWoods traces its origins to two lawyers, Egbert R. Watson and ...
; Elephant Insurance, an insurance company subsidiary of Admiral Group and Media General, a company specializing in broadcast media.
Poverty
As of 2016, 24.8% of Richmond residents live below the federal poverty line, the second-highest among the 30 largest cities and counties in Virginia. An Annie E. Casey Foundation report issued in 2016 also determined that Richmond had a child poverty rate of 39%, more than double the rate for Virginia as a whole. As of 2016, Richmond had the second-highest rate of eviction filings and judgments of any American city with a population of 100,000 or more (in states where complete data was available). Some Richmond neighborhoods, such as the Creighton Court public-housing complex, are particularly well known for concentrations of poverty.
Arts and culture
Museums and monuments
![Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (historic entrance)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Virginia_Museum_of_Fine_Arts_%28historic_entrance%29.JPG)
Several of the city's large general museums are located near the Boulevard. On Boulevard proper are the
Virginia Historical Society
The Virginia Museum of History and Culture founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history. It is a private, n ...
and the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...
, lending their name to what is sometimes called the Museum District. Nearby on Broad Street is the Science Museum of Virginia, housed in the neoclassicism, neoclassical former 1919 Broad Street Union Station. Immediately adjacent is the Children's Museum of Richmond, and two blocks away, the Virginia Center for Architecture. Within the downtown are the Library of Virginia and the Valentine Richmond History Center. Elsewhere are the Virginia Holocaust Museum and the Old Dominion Railway Museum.
Richmond is home to museums and battlefields of the American Civil War. Near the riverfront is the Richmond National Battlefield Park Visitors Center and the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar, both housed in the former buildings of the
Tredegar Iron Works
The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was the biggest ironworks in the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and a significant factor in the decision to make Richmond its capital.
Tredegar supplied about half the artillery used b ...
, where much of the ordnance for the war was produced. In Court End, near the
Virginia State Capitol
The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. (The first two were Jamestown and Williamsburg.) It houses the oldest elected ...
, is the Museum of the Confederacy, along with the Davis Mansion, also known as the White House of the Confederacy; both feature a wide variety of objects and material from the era. The temporary home of General Robert E. Lee still stands on Franklin Street in downtown Richmond. The history of slavery and emancipation are also increasingly represented: there is a former slave trail along the river that leads to Ancarrow's Boat Ramp and Historic Site which has been developed with interpretive signage, and in 2007, the Reconciliation Statue was placed in Shockoe Bottom, with parallel statues placed in Liverpool and Benin representing points of the Triangle Trade.
Other historical points of interest include
St. John's Church St. John's Church, Church of St. John, or variants, thereof, (Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Baptist, but also, sometimes, to John the Apostle or John the Evangelist) may refer to the following churches, former churches or other ...
, the site of
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...
's famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech, and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond), Edgar Allan Poe Museum, features many of his writings and other artifacts of his life, particularly when he lived in the city as a child, a student, and a successful writer. The John Marshall House, the home of the former Chief Justice of the United States, is also located downtown and features many of his writings and objects from his life.
Hollywood Cemetery is the burial grounds of two President of the United States, U.S. Presidents as well as many Civil War officers and soldiers. Beth Ahabah Museum & Archives, Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives collects, preserves and exhibits materials that focus on Jewish history and culture specifically connected to Richmond, VA.
The city was home to many monuments and memorials, most notably those along
Monument Avenue
Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. ...
. Many of the monuments on Monument Avenue were removed after the Floyd (George) riots of 2020. On June 9, 2020, protesters tore down the Columbus monument and threw it in Fountain Lake. Located near Byrd Park is the famous World War I Memorial Carillon, a 56-bell carillon tower. Dedicated in 1956, the Virginia War Memorial is located on Belvedere overlooking the river, and is a monument to Virginians who died in battle in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War. One other very important monument which was left standing is the Bill Robinson, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson monument in Jackson Ward.
Agecroft Hall is a Tudor period, Tudor manor house and estate located on the James River in the Windsor Farms neighborhood of Richmond. The manor house was built in the late 15th century, and was originally located in the Agecroft area of Pendlebury, in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire in England.
Visual and performing arts
Musicians of note associated with Richmond include Jason Mraz, Jimmy Dean, Agents of Good Roots, Aimee Mann, Alabama Thunderpussy, Avail, Broadside (band), Broadside, Carbon Leaf, Cracker (band), Cracker, D'Angelo, Denali (band), Denali, Down to Nothing, Engine Down, Four Walls Falling, Iron Reagan, Lamb of God (band), Lamb of God, Lil Ugly Mane, Lucy Dacus, Municipal Waste, Nickelus F, River City High, Sparklehorse, Strike Anywhere, Chris Brown, Eric Stanley (violinist), Eric Stanley, and Fighting Gravity (band), Fighting Gravity. Richmond is also home of GWAR, a Heavy metal music, heavy metal art collective based in a
Scott's Addition
The Scott's Addition Historic District is a national historic district located in Richmond, Virginia.
History
Scott's Addition was named because it was a section of the 600-acre property inherited in 1818 by U.S Army General Winfield Scott fro ...
warehouse.
Murals
With the advent of the Richmond Mural Project (RMP) by RVA Mag and Art Whino; as well as the RVA Street Art Festival in 2013, the city quickly gained more than 100 murals from international mural artists such as Aryz, Roa, Ron English, and Natalia Rak. While the RMP focused on international talent, the RVA Street Art festival helmed by long-time local mural artist Ed Trask focused largely on regional artists (although it also brought in PoseMSK, Jeff Soto, and Mark Jenkins (artist), Mark Jenkins.) After some criticism the RMP included its first local artist, Nils Westergard, who was already on the international circuit; following the next year with Jacob Eveland. The two festivals are unrelated, with the RMP being defunct, and the RVA Street Art festival happening sporadically due to funding issues. With the advent of the Summer of Floyd riots across America, local artist Hamilton Glass spearheaded the Mending Walls Project featuring walls by pairs of local artists. Many of the murals are unrelated to any project, and are done under the impetus of the artists alone.
Professional performing companies
From earliest days, Virginia, and Richmond in particular, have welcomed live theatrical performances. From Lewis Hallam's early productions of Shakespeare in Williamsburg, the focus shifted to Richmond's antebellum prominence as a main colonial and early 19th century performance venue for such celebrated American and English actors as William Macready, Edwin Forrest, and the Booth family. In the 20th century, Richmonders' love of theater continued with many amateur troupes and regular touring professional productions. In the 1960s a small renaissance or golden age accompanied the growth of professional dinner theaters and the fostering of theater by the Virginia Museum, reaching a peak in the 1970s with the establishment of a resident Equity company at the Virginia Museum Theater (now the Leslie Cheek) and the birth of Theatre IV, a company that continues to this day under the name Virginia Repertory Theatre.
*Virginia Repertory Theatre is Central Virginia's largest professional theatre organization. It was created in 2012 when Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV, which had shared one staff for over a decade, merged to become one company. With an annual budget of over $5 million, the theatre employs over 240 artists each year, presenting a season at the November Theatre and Theatre Gym at Virginia Rep Center, as well as productions at the Hanover Tavern and The Children's Theatre in The Shops at Willow Lawn. The historic November Theatre opened in 1911 as the Empire Theatre, offering stock and vaudeville performances. In 1915 it changed its name from the Empire to the Strand and continued under that name until damaged by fire in 1927. It reopened in 1933 as the "Booker T," and served as the leading black movie house for many years when Richmond was segregated. It closed in 1974 and was idle until real estate developer Mitchell Kambis rescued and renovated it. Kambis restored the Empire name and in 1979 leased it to Keith Fowler, artistic director of the American Revels Company. Revels restored live professional theater to downtown Richmond. Revels was succeeded by Theatre IV in 1984. On its 100th anniversary in 2011 the theatre was further restored when Sara Belle and Neil November made a $2 million gift to Theatre IV and Barksdale.[1] The November now serves as Virginia Rep's headquarters and home and anchors the Arts District. It is currently under the leadership of Artistic Director Bruce Miller and Managing Director Phil Whiteway.
*Richmond Ballet, founded in 1957.
*Richmond Triangle Players, founded in 1993, delivers theater programs exploring themes of equality, identity, affection and family across sexual orientation and gender spectrums.
*Richmond Symphony
*Virginia Opera, the Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia, founded in 1974. Presents eight mainstage performances every year at the Carpenter Theater.
Other venues and companies
![Carpenter Theatre Richmond Va](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Carpenter_Theatre_Richmond_Va.JPG)
Other venues and companies include:
*The Altria Theater, the city-owned opera house.
*The Leslie Cheek Theater, after lying dormant for eight years, re-opened in 2011 in the heart of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts at 200 N. Boulevard. The elegant 500-seat proscenium stage was constructed in 1955 to match then museum director Leslie Cheek's vision of a theater worthy of a fine arts institution. Operating for years as the Virginia Museum Theater (VMT), it supported an amateur community theater under the direction of Robert Telford. When Cheek retired, he advised trustees on the 1969 appointment of Keith Fowler as head of the theater arts division and artistic director of VMT. Fowler led the theater to become the city's first resident Actors Equity\LORT theater, adding major foreign authors and the premieres of new American works to the repertory. Under his leadership VMT reached a "golden age," gaining international recognition and more than doubling its subscription base. Successive artistic administrations changed the name of the theater to "TheatreVirginia". Deficits caused TheatreVirginia to close its doors in 2002. Now, renovated and renamed for its founder, the Leslie Cheek is restoring live performance to VMFA and, while no longer supporting a resident company, it is available for special theatrical and performance events.
*The National Theater (Richmond, Virginia), National Theater is Richmond's premier music venue. It holds 1500 people and has shows regularly throughout the week. It opened winter of 2007 and was built in 1923. It features a state-of-the-art V-DOSC sound system, only the sixth installed in the country and only the third installed on the East Coast.
*Visual Arts Center of Richmond, a not-for-profit organization that is one of the largest nongovernmental arts learning centers in the state of Virginia, founded in 1963. Serves 28,000 individuals annually.
*Richmond CenterStage, a performing arts center that opened in Downtown Richmond in 2009 as part of an expansion of earlier facilities. The complex includes a renovation of the 1,700-seat Carpenter Theater and construction of a new multipurpose hall, community playhouse, and arts education center in the location of the old Thalhimers department store.
*The Byrd Theatre in
Carytown, a movie palace from the 1920s that features second-run movies, as well as the French Film Festival.
*
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
School of the Arts, consistently ranked as one of the best in the nation.
*Dogwood Dell, an amphitheatre in
Byrd Park
Byrd Park, also known as William Byrd Park, is a public park located in Richmond, Virginia, United States, north of the James River and adjacent to Maymont. The park includes a mile-long trail with exercise stops, monuments, an amphitheatre, an ...
, where the Richmond Department of Recreation and Parks presents an annual Festival of the Arts.
*School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community). SPARC was founded in 1981, and trained children to become "triple threats", meaning they were equally versed in singing, acting, and dancing. SPARC has become the largest community-based theater arts education program in Virginia and it offers classes to every age group, during the summer and throughout the year.
*Classic Amphitheatre at Strawberry Hill, the former summer concert venue located at Richmond International Raceway.
Commercial art galleries include Metro Space Gallery and Gallery 5 in a newly designated arts district.
Not-for-profit galleries include Visual Arts Center of Richmond, 1708 Gallery and Artspace.
In addition, in 2008, a new Gay Community Center opened on the city's north side, which hosts meetings of many kinds, and includes a large art gallery space.
Literary arts
Richmond has long been a hub for literature and writers. Edgar Allan Poe was a child in the city, and the town's oldest stone house is now a museum to his life and works. ''The Southern Literary Messenger'', which included his writing, is just one of many notable publications that began in Richmond. Other noteworthy authors who have called Richmond home include Pulitzer-winning Ellen Glasgow, controversial figure James Branch Cabell, Meg Medina, Dean King, David L. Robbins (Virginia writer), David L. Robbins, and MacArthur Fellow Paule Marshall. Tom Wolfe was born in Richmond, as was ''Breaking Bad'' creator Vince Gilligan. David Baldacci graduated from
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
, where the creative writing faculty has included Marshall, Claudia Emerson, Kathleen Graber, T. R. Hummer, Dave Smith (poet), Dave Smith, David Wojahn, and Susann Cokal. Notable graduates include Sheri Reynolds, Jon Pineda, Anna Journey and Joshua Poteat.
A community-based organization, James River Writers, serves the Greater Richmond Region, It sponsors many programs for writers at all stages of their careers and puts on an annual writers' conference that draws attendees from miles away.
Architecture
Richmond is home to many significant structures, including some designed by notable architects. The city contains diverse styles, including significant examples of Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Neoclassical, Egyptian Revival, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, Tudor Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Art Deco, Modernist, International, and Postmodern buildings.
Much of Richmond's early architecture was destroyed by the Evacuation Fire in 1865. It is estimated that 25% of all buildings in Richmond were destroyed during this fire. Even fewer now remain due to construction and urban renewal, demolition that has taken place since Reconstruction era of the United States, Reconstruction. In spite of this, Richmond contains many historically significant buildings and districts. Buildings remain from Richmond's colonial period, such as the Patteson-Schutte House and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond, Virginia), both built before 1750.
![Egyptian Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Egyptian_Building.JPG)
Architectural classicism is heavily represented in all districts of the city, particularly in Downtown, the Fan, and the Museum District. Several notable classical architects have designed buildings in Richmond. The Virginia State Capitol was designed by
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
and
Charles-Louis Clérisseau Charles-Louis Clérisseau (28 August 1721 – 9 January 1820) was a French architect, draughtsman, antiquary, and artist who became a leading authority on ancient Roman architecture and Roman ruins in Italy and France. With his influence extending t ...
in 1785. It is the second-oldest US statehouse in continuous use (after Maryland's) and was the first US government building built in the Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical style of architecture, setting the trend for other state houses and the federal government buildings (including the White House and United States Capitol, The Capitol) in Washington, D.C.
[Jefferson & The Capital Of Virginia]
." An Exhibition at the Library of Virginia; January 7 – June 15, 2002. Retrieved on January 20, 2010. Robert Mills designed
Monumental Church
Monumental Church is a former Episcopal church at 1224 E. Broad Street between N. 12th and College streets in Richmond, Virginia. Designed by architect Robert Mills, it is one of America's earliest and most distinctive Greek Revival churches. I ...
on Broad Street. Adjoining it is the 1845 Egyptian Building, one of the few Egyptian Revival buildings in the United States.
![Science Museum - Broad Street Station (2256100684)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Science_Museum_-_Broad_Street_Station_%282256100684%29.jpg)
The firm of John Russell Pope designed Broad Street Station (Richmond), Broad Street Station as well as Branch House on
Monument Avenue
Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. ...
, designed as a private residence in the Tudor style, now serving as the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. Broad Street Station (or Union Station), designed in the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style, is no longer a functioning station but is now home to the Science Museum of Virginia. Main Street Station (Richmond), Main Street Station, designed by Wilson, Harris, and Richards, has been returned to use in its original purpose. The Jefferson Hotel and the Commonwealth Club were both designed by the classically trained Beaux-Arts architects Carrère and Hastings. Many buildings on the
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...
campus, including Jeter Hall and Ryland Hall, were designed by Ralph Adams Cram, most famous for his Princeton University Chapel and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.
Richmond's urban residential neighborhoods also hold particular significance to the city's fabric. The Fan, the Museum District, Jackson Ward, Carver, Carytown, Oregon Hill and Church Hill (among others) are largely single use town homes and mixed use or full retail/dining establishments. These districts are anchored by large streets such as Franklin Street, Cary Street, the Boulevard, and Monument Avenue. The city's growth in population over the last decade has been concentrated in these areas.
Among Richmond's most interesting architectural features is its cast-iron architecture. Second only to New Orleans in its concentration of cast-iron work, the city is home to a unique collection of cast iron porches, balconies, fences, and finials. Richmond's position as a center of iron production helped to fuel its popularity within the city. At the height of production in the 1890, 25 foundries operated in the city employing nearly 3,500 metal workers. This number is seven times the number of general construction workers being employed in Richmond at the time which illustrates the importance of its iron exports. Porches and fences in urban neighborhoods such as Jackson Ward, Church Hill, and Monroe Ward are particularly elaborate, often featuring ornate iron casts never replicated outside of Richmond. In some cases cast were made for a single residential or commercial application.
Richmond is home to several notable instances of various styles of modernism. Minoru Yamasaki designed the Federal Reserve Building which dominates the downtown skyline. The architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has designed two buildings: the Library of Virginia and the General Assembly Offices at the Eighth and Main Building. Philip Johnson designed the WRVA Building. The Richard Neutra-designed Rice House (Richmond, Virginia), Rice House, a residence on a private island on the James River, remains Richmond's only true International Style home. The W.G. Harris residence in Richmond was designed by famed early modern architect and member of the Harvard Five, Landis Gores. The VCU Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond, Institute for Contemporary Art, designed by Steven Holl, opened in 2018. Other notable architects to have worked in the city include Rick Mather, I.M. Pei, and Gordon Bunshaft.
Many of Richmond's historic properties were documented in books and 1970s era black and white photographs by John G. Zehmer, an architectural historian and preservationist.
Richmond has been described by former mayor Dwight Clinton Jones, Dwight C. Jones as the tacky light capital of the world.
Historic districts
Richmond's City Code provides for the creation of old and historic districts so as to "recognize and protect the historic, architectural, cultural, and artistic heritage of the City". Pursuant to that authority, the city has designated 45 districts throughout the city. The majority of these districts are also listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register ("VLR") and the National Register of Historic Places ("NRHP").
Fifteen of the districts represent broad sections of the city:
The remaining thirty districts are limited to an individual building or group of buildings throughout the city:
Food
Richmond has been recognized in recent years for being a "foodie city", particularly for its modern renditions of traditional cuisine of the Southern United States, Southern cuisine.
The city also claims the invention of the sailor sandwich, which includes pastrami, knockwurst, Swiss cheese (North America), Swiss cheese and mustard (condiment), mustard on rye bread.
Richmond is also where, in 1935, Drink can#History, canned beer was made commercially available for the first time.
Sports
Richmond is not home to any major league professional sports teams, but since 2013, the Washington Commanders of the National Football League have held their Training camp (National Football League), summer training camp in the city.
There are also several minor league sports in the city, including the Richmond Kickers of USL League One and the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Class AA Double-A Northeast of Minor League Baseball (an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants).
The Kickers began playing in Richmond in 1993, and currently play at City Stadium (Richmond), City Stadium. In 2018 the Richmond Kickers left the USL to become founders in Division 3 Soccer. The Squirrels opened their first season at The Diamond (Richmond, Virginia), The Diamond on April 15, 2010. From 1966 through 2008, the city was home to the Richmond Braves, a Triple-A (baseball), AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball, until the franchise relocated to Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia.
It is also the home to the Richmond Black Widows, the city's first women's football team, founded in 2015 by Sarah Schkeeper. They are a part of the Women's Football Alliance. Their game season begins in April, with preseason beginning in January.
Another significant sports venue is the 6,000-seat Arthur Ashe Athletic Center, a multi-purpose arena named for tennis great and Richmond resident
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...
. This facility hosts a variety of local sporting events, concerts, and other activities. As the home of Arthur Ashe, the sport of tennis is also popular in Richmond, and in 2010, the United States Tennis Association named Richmond as the third "Best Tennis Town", behind Charleston, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia.
Auto racing is also popular in the area. The Richmond Raceway (RR) has hosted NASCAR Cup Series races since 1953, as well as the Capital City 400 from 1962 − 1980.
RIR also hosted IndyCar's SunTrust Indy Challenge from 2001 − 2009. Another track, Southside Speedway, has operated since 1959 and sits just southwest of Richmond in
Chesterfield County. This oval short-track has become known as the "Toughest Track in the South" and "The Action Track", and features weekly stock car racing on Friday nights.
Southside Speedway has acted as the breeding grounds for many past NASCAR legends including Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip, and claims to be the home track of NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin.
In 2015, Richmond hosted the 2015 UCI Road World Championships, which had cyclists from 76 countries and an economic impact on the
Greater Richmond Region
The Greater Richmond Region, the Richmond metropolitan area or Central Virginia, is a region and metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Virginia, centered on Richmond, Virginia, Richmond. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines the ...
estimated to be $158.1 million, from both event staging and visitor spending. The course used for the championships was the first real-world location to be recreated within the indoor cycle training application, Zwift, and has been subsequently joined within the game by the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI world championships courses from 2018 (Innsbruck) and 2019 (Harrogate).
College basketball has also had recent success with the Richmond Spiders and the VCU Rams, both of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Spiders' men's and women's teams play at Robins Center and the Rams' men's and women's teams play at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.
Parks and recreation
![botanicalgarden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Botanicalgarden.jpg)
The city operates one of the oldest municipal park systems in the country. The park system began when the city council voted in 1851 to acquire , now known as Monroe Park. Today, Monroe Park sits adjacent to the
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
campus and is one of more than 40 parks comprising a total of more than .
Several parks are located along the James River, and the James River Parks System offers bike trails, hiking and nature trails, and many scenic overlooks along the river's route through the city. The trails are used as part of the Xterra East Championship course for both the running and mountain biking portions of the off-road triathlon.
There are also parks on two major islands in the river: Belle Isle (Virginia), Belle Isle and Brown's Island. Belle Isle, at various former times a Powhatan fishing village, colonial-era horse race track, and Civil War prison camp, is the larger of the two, and contains many bike trails as well as a small cliff that is used for rock climbing instruction. One can walk the island and still see many of the remains of the Civil War prison camp, such as an arms storage room and a gun emplacement that was used to quell prisoner riots. Brown's Island is a smaller island and a popular venue of a large number of free outdoor concerts and festivals in the spring and summer, such as the weekly Friday Cheers concert series or the James River Beer and Seafood Festival.
![MaymontPark JapaneseGarden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/MaymontPark_JapaneseGarden.jpg)
Two other major parks in the city along the river are
Byrd Park
Byrd Park, also known as William Byrd Park, is a public park located in Richmond, Virginia, United States, north of the James River and adjacent to Maymont. The park includes a mile-long trail with exercise stops, monuments, an amphitheatre, an ...
and
Maymont
Maymont is a 100-acre (0.156 sq mi) Victorian estate and public park in Richmond, Virginia. It contains Maymont Mansion, now a historic house museum, an arboretum, formal gardens, a carriage collection, native wildlife exhibits, a nature cente ...
, located near the Fan District. Byrd Park features a running track, with exercise stops, a public dog park, and a number of small lakes for small boats, as well as two monuments, Buddha house, and an amphitheater. Prominently featured in the park is the Carillon, World War I Memorial Carillon, built in 1926 as a memorial to those that died in the war. Maymont, located adjacent to Byrd Park, is a Victorian architecture, Victorian estate with a museum, formal gardens, native wildlife exhibits, nature center, carriage collection, and Children's Farm, children's farm. Other parks in the city include Joseph Bryan Park Azalea Garden, Forest Hill Park (former site of the Forest Hill Amusement Park), Chimborazo Park (site of the National Battlefield Headquarters), among others.
The James River itself through Richmond is renowned as one of the best in the country for urban white-water rafting/canoeing/kayaking. Several rafting companies offer complete services. There are also several easily accessed riverside areas within the city limits for rock-hopping, swimming, and picnicking.
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is located adjacent to the city in Henrico County. Founded in 1984, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is located on and features a glass conservatory, a rose garden, a healing garden, and an accessible-to-all children's garden. The Garden is a public place for the display and scientific study of plants. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is one of only two independent public botanical gardens in Virginia and is designated a state botanical garden.
Several theme parks are also located near the city, including Kings Dominion to the north, and Busch Gardens to the east, near
Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
.
Government
![Richmond City Hall (2988924475)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Richmond_City_Hall_%282988924475%29.jpg)
Richmond city government consists of a city council with representatives from nine districts serving in a legislative and oversight capacity, as well as a popularly elected, at-large mayor serving as head of the executive branch. Citizens in each of the nine districts elect one council representative each to serve a four-year term. Beginning with the November 2008 election Council terms was lengthened to 4 years. The city council elects from among its members one member to serve as Council President and one to serve as Council Vice President. The city council meets at City Hall, located at 900 E. Broad St., 2nd Floor, on the second and fourth Mondays of every month, except August.
In 1977, a federal district court ruled in favor of Curtis Holt Jr. who had claimed the council's existing election process — an at large voting system — was racially biased. The verdict required the city to rebuild its council into nine distinct wards. Within the year the city council switched from majority white to majority black, reflecting the city's populace. This new city council elected Richmond's first black mayor, Henry L. Marsh.
Richmond's government changed in 2004 from a council-manager form of government with a mayor elected by and from the council to an at-large, popularly elected mayor. Unlike most major cities, in order to be elected, a mayoral candidate must win a plurality of the vote in five of the city's nine council districts. If no one crosses that threshold, a runoff is held between the two top finishers in the first round. This was implemented as a compromise in order to address concerns that better-organized and wealthier white voters could have undue influence. In a landslide election, incumbent mayor Rudy McCollum was defeated by Douglas Wilder, L. Douglas Wilder, who previously served Virginia as the first elected African American governor in the United States since Reconstruction era of the United States, Reconstruction. The current mayor of Richmond is
Levar Stoney
Levar Marcus Stoney (born March 20, 1981) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 80th mayor of Richmond, Virginia. He served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 through 2016, the youngest member ...
who was elected in 2016. The mayor is not a part of the Richmond City Council.
, the Richmond City Council consisted of:
*Andreas D. Addison, 1st District (West End)
*Katherine Jordan, 2nd District (North Central)
*Ann-Frances Lambert, 3rd District (Northside)
*Kristen Nye, 4th District (Southwest)
*Stephanie A. Lynch, 5th District (Central)
*Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District (Gateway), Council Vice President
*Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District (East End), Council President
*Reva M. Trammell, 8th District (Southside)
*Michael J. Jones, 9th District (South Central)
Education
Public schools
The city of Richmond operates 28 elementary schools, nine middle schools, and eight high schools, serving a total student population of 24,000 students.
There is one Governor's School in the city − the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies. In 2008, it was named as one of Newsweek magazine's 18 "public elite" high schools,
and in 2012, it was rated #16 of America's best high schools overall.
Richmond's public school district also runs one of Virginia's four public charter schools, the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, which was founded in 2010.
The class of 2020 saw an on-time graduation rate of 71.6% putting it at least 20 percentage points behind most other school divisions and making it the worst in the state.
Private schools
As of 2008, there were 36 private schools serving grades one or higher in the city of Richmond.
Some of these schools include: Banner Christian School, Benedictine College Preparatory, St. Bridget School, Brook Road Academy, Collegiate School (Richmond, Virginia), Collegiate School, Grace Christian School, Grove Christian School, Guardian Christian Academy, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, St. Christopher's School, Saint Gertrude High School, St. Gertrude High School, St. Catherine's School, Richmond, Virginia, St. Catherine's School, Southside Baptist Christian School, Northstar Academy (Richmond, Virginia), Northstar Academy, The Steward School, Trinity Episcopal High School, Trinity Episcopal School, The New Community School, and Veritas School.
Colleges and universities
The Richmond area has many major institutions of higher education, including
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
(public),
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...
(private),
Virginia Union University
Virginia Union University is a private historically black Baptist university in Richmond, Virginia. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA.
History
The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Richm ...
(private), South University–Richmond (private, for-profit), Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education (private), and the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond (BTSR—private). Several community colleges are found in the metro area, including J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and Brightpoint Community College (
Chesterfield County). In addition, there are several Technical Colleges in Richmond including ITT Technical Institute, ECPI College of Technology and Centura College. There are several vocational colleges also, such as Fortis College and Bryant Stratton College.
Virginia State University is located about south of Richmond, in the suburb of Ettrick, Virginia, Ettrick, just outside
Petersburg. Randolph-Macon College is located about north of Richmond, in the incorporated town of Ashland, Virginia, Ashland.
Media
The ''
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia.
Circulation
The ''Times-Dispatc ...
'', the local daily newspaper in Richmond with a Sunday circulation of 120,000, is owned by Lee Enterprises, Lee Enterprises, Inc. ''Style Weekly,'' an online alternative local publication covering popular culture, arts, and entertainment, is owned by VPM Media Corporation. RVA Magazine is the city's only independent art music and culture publication, was once monthly, but is now issued quarterly. The ''Richmond Free Press'' and the ''Voice'' cover the news from an African-American perspective.
The Richmond metro area is served by many local television and radio stations. , the Richmond-Petersburg designated market area (DMA) is the 58th largest in the U.S. with 553,950 homes according to Nielsen Market Research.
The major network television affiliates are
WTVR-TV
WTVR-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Richmond, Virginia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. Its studios are located on West Broad Street on Richmond's West End, and its transmitter is located i ...
6 (CBS), WRIC-TV 8 (American Broadcasting Company, ABC), WWBT 12 (NBC), WRLH-TV 35 (Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox), and WUPV 65 (The CW, CW).
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
stations include WCVE-TV 23 and WCVW 57. There are also a wide variety of radio stations in the Richmond area, catering to many different interests, including news, talk radio, and sports, as well as an eclectic mix of musical interests. Richmond enjoys a Low-power broadcasting#United States, low power FM Station, WRIR, which features all volunteer community supported radio at all hours.
Infrastructure
Transportation
The Greater Richmond area is served by the Richmond International Airport , located in nearby
Sandston, southeast of Richmond and within an hour drive of historic Williamsburg, Virginia. Richmond International is now served by ten passenger and four cargo airlines with over 200 daily flights providing non-stop service to major destination markets and connecting flights to destinations worldwide. A record 3.3 million passengers used Richmond International Airport in 2006, a 13% increase over 2005.
Richmond is a major hub for intercity bus company Greyhound Lines, with its terminal at 2910 N Boulevard. Multiple runs per day connect directly with Washington, D.C., New York, Raleigh, and elsewhere. Direct trips to New York take approximately 7.5 hours. Discount carrier Megabus (North America), Megabus also provides curbside service from outside of Main Street Station. Direct service is available to Washington, D.C.,
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
, Charlotte, Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, and
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Most other connections to Megabus served cities, such as New York, can be made from Washington, D.C.
Local transit (transportation), transit and paratransit bus service in Richmond,
Henrico, and
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
counties is provided by the Greater Richmond Transit of Richmond, Virginia, Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC). The GRTC, however, serves only small parts of the suburban counties. The far West End (Innsbrook and Short Pump) and almost all of Chesterfield County have no public transportation despite dense housing, retail, and office development. According to a 2008 GRTC operations analysis report, a majority of GRTC riders utilize their services because they do not have an available alternative such as a private vehicle.
Richmond, and the surrounding metropolitan area, was granted a roughly $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2014 to support the GRTC Pulse bus rapid transit system, which opened in June 2018, running along Broad Street from Willow Lawn to Landing, in the first phase of an improved public transportation hub for the region.
The Richmond area also has two railroad stations served by Amtrak. Each station receives regular service from north of Richmond including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York. The region's main station, Richmond Staples Mill Road (Amtrak station), Staples Mill Road Station, is located just outside the city on a major north–south freight line and receives all service to and from all points south including Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, Durham, North Carolina, Durham, Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, Savannah, Georgia, Savannah, Newport News, Virginia, Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk and Florida. Richmond's only railway station located within the city limits, the historic Main Street Station (Richmond), Main Street Station, was renovated in 2004. As of 2010, the station only receives trains headed to and from Newport News due to track layout.
Richmond also benefits from an excellent position in reference to the state's transportation network, lying at the junction of east–west
Interstate 64
Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange w ...
and north–south
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...
, two of the most heavily traveled highways in the state, as well as along several major rail lines.
Major highways
*
*
* (Beltline Expy)
*
* (Brook Rd, Azelea Ave, Chamberlayne Ave, Belvedere St, Cowardin Ave, Jefferson Davis Hwy)
* (Staples Mill Rd, Broad St)
*
* (Broad Street (Richmond, Virginia), Broad Street)
* (Chamberlayne Ave, Belvedere St, Cowardin Ave, Jefferson Davis Hwy)
* (Hull St Rd; Hull St; N 14th St; joins US 60 Main St; WB 17th St [Oliver Hill Way], EB W 18th St; Mechanicsville Tnpk)
* (E Main St; N 25th St)
* (Kensington Ave, Patterson Ave)
* (Broad Rock Blvd)
*
*
* (Connector to VA-195)
* (Cary St [EB after I-195], W Main St [WB after I-195], Cary St Rd, River Rd, Huguenot Rd [S of the James River])
*
* (Hermitage Rd, The Boulevard, Park Dr, Blanton Ave, Westover Hills Blvd, Belt Blvd, Bells Rd)
* (toll route) (Downtown Expy)
* (Malvern Ave, Westwood Ave, Saunders Ave, W Laburnum Ave)
* (Entrance to the Grounds of the Virginia Commonwealth University)
*
Utilities
Electric power, Electricity in the Richmond Metro area is provided by
Dominion Energy
Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is a North American power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas t ...
. The company, based in Richmond, is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, serving retail energy customers in nine states. Electricity is provided in the Richmond area primarily by the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station and Surry Nuclear Generating Station, as well as a coal-fired station in Chester, Virginia. These three plants provide a total of 4,453 megawatts of power. Several other natural gas plants provide extra power during times of peak demand. These include facilities in Chester, Virginia, Chester, and Surry, Virginia, Surry, and two plants in Richmond (Gravel Neck and Darbytown).
Natural gas in the Richmond Metro area is provided by the city's Department of Public Utilities and also serves portions of
Henrico and
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
counties.
Water is provided by the city's Department of Public Utilities, and is one of the largest water producers in Virginia, with a modern plant that can treat up to 132 million gallons of water a day from the
James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
. The facility also provides water to the surrounding area through wholesale contracts with
Henrico,
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
, and
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
counties. Overall, this results in a facility that provides water for approximately 500,000 people.
The wastewater treatment plant and distribution system of water mains, pumping stations and storage facilities provide water to approximately 62,000 customers in the city. There is also a wastewater treatment plant located on the south bank of the James River. This plant can treat up to 70 million gallons of water per day of sanitary sewage and stormwater before returning it to the river. The wastewater utility also operates and maintains of sanitary sewer and pumping stations, of intercepting sewer lines, and the Shockoe Retention Basin, a 44-million-gallon stormwater reservoir used during heavy rains.
Sister cities
Richmond's Sister city, sister cities are:
* London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames, United Kingdom
* Saitama (city), Saitama, Japan
* Ségou, Mali
* Windhoek, Namibia
* Zhengzhou, China
See also
*Culture of Virginia
*Richmond Police Department (Virginia), Richmond Police Department
*:People from Richmond, Virginia
Notes
References
Further reading
*Ash, Stephen V. ''Rebel Richmond: Life and Death in the Confederate Capital'' (UNC Press, 2019).
*Bill, Alfred Hoyt. ''The Beleaguered City: Richmond, 1861–1865'' (1946).
*Calcutt, Rebecca Barbour. ''Richmond's Wartime Hospitals'' (Pelican Publishing, 2005).
*Chesson, Michael B. ''Richmond after the war, 1865–1890'' (Virginia State Library, 1981).
*
*Furgurson, Ernest B. ''Ashes of glory: Richmond at war'' (1996).
*Hoffman, Steven J. ''Race, Class and Power in the Building of Richmond, 1870-1920'' (McFarland, 2004).
*Mustian, Thomas F. ''Facts and Legends of Richmond Area Streets.'' (Richmond, VA: Dementi Milestone Publishing, 2007).
*Thomas, Emory M. ''The Confederate State of Richmond: A Biography of the Capital'' (LSU Press, 1998).
*Trammell, Jack. ''The Richmond Slave Trade: The Economic Backbone of the Old Dominion'' (The History Press, 2012).
*Wright, Mike. ''City Under Siege: Richmond in the Civil War'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 1995)
External links
*
ChamberRVA the regional chamber of commerce for Greater Richmond
Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' travel itinerary
*
{{Authority control
Richmond, Virginia,
Cities in Virginia
Greater Richmond Region
Populated places on the James River (Virginia)
Populated places established in 1737
1737 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies
Capitals of former nations
Majority-minority counties and independent cities in Virginia