The East End of Richmond, Virginia is the quadrant of the City 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. ...
, and more loosely the Richmond metropolitan area, east of the downtown.
Geographic boundaries
Within the city, and in Henrico County, East End is roughly defined as including the area of Richmond north of 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 ...
and east/northeast of the former
Virginia Central Railroad
The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railr ...
-
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...
line (now owned by
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...
and operated by the
Buckingham Branch Railroad
Buckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 275 miles (443 km) of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia. Sharing overhead traffic with CSX and Amtrak, the company's headquarters are in Dill ...
) which originated at
Main Street Station Main Street station may refer to:
Canada
* Main Street station (Toronto), a subway station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
* Main Street–Science World station, a SkyTrain station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
United Kingdom
* Main Street ra ...
, and south and west of
I-295
Interstate 295
is the designation for the following eight Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95:
*Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Interstate 295 (Florida), a be ...
.
Within the city, this includes neighborhoods such as
Church Hill,
Fairmount,
Union Hill, Fulton, Powhatan Hill,
Fulton Hill
Fulton Hill is a neighborhood located in the East End of Richmond, Virginia. The name is used for the area stretching from Gillies Creek to the Richmond city limits. The Greater Fulton Hill Civic Association includes Fulton Bottom, part of ...
, Montrose Heights, Fairfield Court, Creighton Court, Whitcomb Court, Mosby Court, Eastview, Brauers, Peter Paul, Woodville, North Church Hill, Chimborazo and Oakwood.
The terminology "East End" also broadly includes much of eastern
Henrico County
Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is a county 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 Coun ...
as a portion the Richmond Metropolitan area.
Communities outside the city limits in this area include the
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
s of
Highland Springs,
Montrose,
Sandston, and
Varina.
A portion of
Hanover County
Hanover County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover.
Hanover County is a part of the Greater Richmond Region.
History
Located in the western Tidewater ...
, primarily in the
Mechanicsville area also meets the above geographic description, and may be considered by some to be part of the East End of Metropolitan Richmond, though is equally considered outside of the quadrant system, due to its separation from the city by 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 eastern Virginia. The river, which serves as the eastern border of Charles City County, Vir ...
and swamp.
History and development
In the era just before and as European settlement began at the turn of the 17th century, near Powhatan Hill, a place known as "Powhatan" which was the village or "town" that
Wahunsunacock
Powhatan (), whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh (alternately spelled Wahunsenacah, Wahunsunacock, or Wahunsonacock), was the leader of the Powhatan, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans living in Tsenacommacah, in the Tidewater ...
(who has become better-known as the
Chief Powhatan
Powhatan (), whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh (alternately spelled Wahunsenacah, Wahunsunacock, or Wahunsonacock), was the leader of the Powhatan, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans living in Tsenacommacah, in the Tidewat ...
) came from was located. An early capital of the
Powhatan Confederacy
Powhatan people () are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who belong to member tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy, or Tsenacommacah. They are Algonquian peoples whose historic territories were in eastern Virginia.
Their Powha ...
, "Powhatan" was also the name used by the natives to refer to 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 ...
).
The East End contains a number of notable cemeteries, including the Confederate Cemetery of
Oakwood, the historic African-American
Evergreen Cemetery, and the
Richmond National Cemetery
Richmond National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery east of Richmond in Henrico County, Virginia. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and had more than 11,000 interments. It is closed ...
. The East End is also home to the famous St. John's Church, where
delivered his "Give Me Liberty" speech.
As of the 2020s, the area is a target for
urban renewal
Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...
and investment.
See also
*
Neighborhoods of Richmond, Virginia
The Greater Richmond, Virginia area has many neighborhoods and districts.
Description of the Richmond Metro Region from a quadrant perspective
The Greater Richmond area extends beyond the city limits into nearby counties. Descriptions of Rich ...
References
{{Richmond, Virginia neighborhoods
Neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia