Arthur Ashe Boulevard (also referred to as "the Boulevard") is a historic

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...

in the near the West End of

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, providing access to Byrd Park. It serves as the border between the Carytown/Museum District to the west and the Fan district to the east. Attempts were made to rename the street after

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...

, a tennis star and social activist who was born and grew up in Richmond, but previous attempts failed until February 2019 when Richmond City Council voted in favor of changing the name to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Near the south end is Richmond's Boulevard Bridge (commonly called the "Nickel Bridge", in reference to its historical initial toll) across the

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

. Arthur Ashe Boulevard intersects with main arteries Cary Street, Main Street,

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 Wa ...

, Broad Street (where the Historic District ends), Leigh Street, and Interstate 64/95, and terminates at Hermitage Road. The Diamond is located on Arthur Ashe Boulevard. The intersection of Arthur Ashe Boulevard and Monument Avenue featured a statue of

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern the ...

. Arthur Ashe Boulevard is designated as State Route 161, a route promoted in the 1940s and 1950s as an alternate bypass route before the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike and

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 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

were built, connecting with

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ...

north and south of downtown Richmond. In 2019 American artist

Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977) leaving Freddie to raise the couple's six children on her own. 3/sup> Wiley has said that his family survived on welfare checks and the limited income earned by his mother's "thrift store"—which consiste ...

's outdoor sculpture Rumors of War was erected adjacent to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. It is part of the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (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 supp ...

permanent art collection. It stands between the museum and the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, a ...

headquarters. The sculpture was created by Wiley as a response to the J.E.B. Stuart monument and the other Confederate equestrian statues on

, all of which have since been removed by the city.

References

Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Transportation in Richmond, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia {{RichmondCityVA-NRHP-stub