Adele Goodman ClarkAdèle Goodman Clark fought tirelessly to champion both women's rights and the arts in Virginia. Clark gained prominence for pro-suffrage ... [click for more]
Alfred D. A.D. PriceBorn into slavery in Hanover County in 1860, Alfred D. A. D. Price moved to Richmond in the late 1870s. Soon after coming to Richmond, he set up a bla... [click for more]
Ampthill EstateBuilt before 1732 by Henry Cary, this was the home of Colonel Archibald Cary, a Revolutionary leader of Virginia. The house was moved, 1929-30, to its... [click for more]
AmpthillA short distance south is Ampthill House, built by Henry Cary about 1730 on the south side of James River. It was the home of Colonel Archibald Cary, ... [click for more]
Anna Marie Lane--Soldier Of The American RevolutionNear the Bell Tower in Capitol Square stood the barracks of the Public Guard. There, from 1801 to 1807, lived John Lane and his wife, Anna Maria Lane,... [click for more]
Bacon’s QuarterNathaniel Bacon (1647-1676), leader of Bacon's Rebellion, acquired land in 1674 at Curles Neck in Henrico County and property near the falls on the no... [click for more]
Barton Heights CemeteriesThe Burying Ground Society of the Free People of Color of Richmond established its cemetery (later renamed Cedarwood) here in 1815. African Americans ... [click for more]
Battle of Bloody RunNearby is the site where Chief Totopotomoy of the Pamunkey died in 1656. The English colonists had become concerned over the recent settlement nearby ... [click for more]
Battle of Drewry’s BluffFrom this point the Confederates, on May 16, 1864, moved to attack the Union Army of the James under Butler advancing northward on Richmond.... [click for more]
Black Hawk (1767-1838)Black Sparrow Hawk (Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak) led the Sauk Nation in defense of land taken from them in the 1830s. Displaced from three Midwestern l... [click for more]
Branch Public BathsJohn Patteson Branch (1830-1915), banker, philanthropist and community leader, erected Richmond's first public bath here in 1909 at 1801 East Broad St... [click for more]
British Invasion of Richmond, January 1781On 4 Jan. 1781, British troops led by Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold landed at Westover in Charles City County and began marching to Richmond. Learning of... [click for more]
Broad Street StationBroad Street Station served passengers of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railway and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad from 6 Jan. 1919 until 1... [click for more]
Brook RoadAccording to tradition, the Marquis de Lafayette marched his colonial troops from the north into Richmond on portions of present-day Brook Road late i... [click for more]
Charles Sidney GilpinCharles Sidney Gilpin grew up here in Jackson Ward. He apprenticed in the Richmond Planet print shop before beginning his theater career and becoming... [click for more]
Drewry’s Bluff (2)This bluff on the James River, a mile east, was fortified by Captain A. H. Drewry in 1862. A Union fleet, attempting to pass it, was driven back, May ... [click for more]
Drewry’s BluffA mile east is Drewry's Bluff, James River fortification of Richmond, 1862-1865. Earthworks remain.... [click for more]
Early Quakers in RichmondNear this site a meetinghouse was built in 1797 to1798 by members of the Religious Society of Friends. Called Quakers, the earliest had arrived in Vir... [click for more]
Egyptian BuildingIn Oct. 1844, Hampden-Sydney College's medical department first held classes in this Egyptian Revival structure designed by Philadelphia architec... [click for more]
Engine Company No. 9 Fire StationOn 1 July 1950, the first professional Afro-American firefighters in Virginia were hired and in September were stationed on the northeast corner of th... [click for more]
Evergreen CemeteryIn 1891, Evergreen Cemetery was established as a preeminent resting place for many of Virginia's most influential African-American residents. These i... [click for more]
Execution of GabrielNear here is the early site of the Richmond gallows and Burial Ground for Negroes. On 10 Oct. 1800, Gabriel, an enslaved blacksmith from Brookfield pl... [click for more]
Falling Creek IronworksNearby on Falling Creek is the first ironworks in English North America. It was established by the Virginia Company to supply iron for the colony and ... [click for more]
First Southern African American Girl ScoutsIn 1932, the first African American Girl Scout troop in the South began meeting nearby on the Virginia Union University campus. Sponsors of the troop ... [click for more]
First Trolley Car System in RichmondIn 1888, the world's first successful electric railway, the Richmond Union Passenger Railway, branched at this point to link downtown and Jackson Ward... [click for more]
Forest Hill ParkThis 105-acre site was part of William Byrd III's vast 1700s holdings along the James River. In 1836, Holden Rhodes (1799-1857), noted jurist and earl... [click for more]
Freedmen’s Bureau, Freedman’s BankSlavery denied African Americans the education and skills required to exercise the freedom won by the Civil War. To redress that, Congress created the... [click for more]
Friends Asylum for Colored OrphansHere stood the Friends Asylum for Colored Orphans. Lucy Goode Brooks and the Ladies Sewing Circle for Charitable Work, all formerly enslaved, founded... [click for more]
Gabriel’s RebellionGabriel, a slave of Thomas Prosser of nearby Brookfield plantation, planned a slave insurrection against Richmond on 30 Aug. 1800. The slaves intended... [click for more]
Giles Beecher Jackson (circa 1852-1924)The first African American to practice law before the Supreme Court of Virginia, Jackson lived and worked in Jackson Ward. Although local tradition h... [click for more]
Hebrew CemeteryRichmond's Hebrew Cemetery was established in the early 19th century by Congregation Beth Shalome, which was formed by 1789 and merged with Congr... [click for more]
Jackson WardBefore the Civil War this neighborhood was home to free blacks and enslaved individuals, along with European immigrants and Jewish residents. The area... [click for more]
John Mitchell, Jr., Fighting EditorBorn enslaved near Richmond in 1863, John Mitchell, Jr. came of age in the tumultuous post-Civil War era. In 1883, he launched a daring journalism ca... [click for more]
Joseph Bryan ParkBefore becoming a park, this property was part of the Young family's Westbrook estate in the 1700s and later Rosewood, home of the Mordecai family. It... [click for more]
Kahal Kadosh Beth ShalomeJews have participated in Virginia's social and economic life from the colony's beginnings. Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome (Holy Congregation House of Peac... [click for more]
Mary-Cooke Branch MunfordMary-Cooke Branch Munford received her primary and secondary education in Richmond and New York. Prevented from attending college by her mother, Munf... [click for more]
Monroe ParkIn 1851 the City of Richmond planned a series of parks including Western Square now known as Monroe Park. In the 1850s it served as grounds for what b... [click for more]
Navy HillThe Navy Hill neighborhood, named as a tribute to nearby naval victories during the War of 1812, was settled by German immigrants beginning in 1810. ... [click for more]
Oakwood Cemetery, Confederate SectionAfter the First Battle of Manassas, Richmond appropriated this approximately 7.5-acre lot on 12 Aug. 1861 for the burial of Confederate war dead. Thes... [click for more]
Old Dominion BuildingWilliam Lawrence Bottomley (1883-1951), the well-known architect who planned a number of sophisticated Colonial Revival houses for wealthy Richmond-ar... [click for more]
Origins of RichmondThere was no place so strong, so pleasant, and delightful in Virginia, for which we called it None-such. So wrote Captain John Smith about the site he... [click for more]
Outer DefensesBy 1864, a complex series of fortifications north of Richmond and the James River protected the capital of the Confederacy. The outer line of western ... [click for more]
Outer FortificationsOn the hilltops here ran the outer line of Richmond fortifications, 1862-1865.... [click for more]
Proctor’s Creek FightTo the west of the road here at Proctor's Creek Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Union Army of the James attacked the outer line of the Confederates' Dr... [click for more]
Richmond Evacuation FireAfter midnight on 3 April 1865, Confederate soldiers set fire to several tobacco warehouses nearby on orders from Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, as the ar... [click for more]
Richmond’s Civil War HospitalsHospitals such as Chimborazo, erected on this site in 1861, were built to handle the increasing influx of wounded Civil War soldiers to Richmond from ... [click for more]
Richmond’s First African American Police OfficersOn 1 May 1946, Richmond's first professional African American police officers were hired and assigned to the First Precinct at Smith and Marshall Stre... [click for more]
Sadie Heath Cabaniss ~ Nursing Innovator (1863-1921)Sadie Heath Cabaniss laid the foundation for professional nursing in Virginia and was the founder of the VCU School of Nursing in 1893. Cabaniss, who ... [click for more]
Second Battle of Drewry’s BluffThe Second Battle of Drewry's Bluff, or the Proctor's Creek engagement, began on 14 May 1864 when part of Union Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Army of... [click for more]
Sheridan Maneuvers EastIn 1864, Brook Road provided the most direct avenue of approach from the north for Union cavalry raids on Richmond. After defeating Maj. Gen. J. E. B.... [click for more]
Shockoe Hill CemeteryThe City of Richmond opened Shockoe Hill Cemetery on four acres in 1822, when the burial ground of St. John's Church approached its capacity. By 1871,... [click for more]
Site of J. E. B. Stuart’s DeathMajor General James Ewell Brown Stuart, C.S.A., Commander of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, died here on May 12, 1864, in the home of h... [click for more]
The CarillonThe Carillon, Virginia's War Memorial for World War I, was erected by the Commonwealth of Virginia to commemorate those who served. Designed by noted ... [click for more]
The Equal Suffrage League of VirginiaEighteen women dedicated to obtaining the vote and expanding women's traditional roles formed the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia (ESL) at 919 ... [click for more]
Union Army Enters RichmondHere Maj. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel, commander of the Army of the James, entered and took possession of Richmond at 8:15 A.M. on 3 April 1865 after receivi... [click for more]
Virginia Historical SocietyFounded in 1831, the Virginia Historical Society is the oldest such institution in the South. It was located in the Stewart-Lee house in downtown Rich... [click for more]
WarwickLocated eight miles downstream from Richmond, Warwick was an important 18th-century James River port and manufacturing center. During the Revolutionar... [click for more]
WiltonA short distance south is Wilton, built by William Randolph and completed in 1753. The house, which originally stood on the north side of James River ... [click for more]
WindsorWindsor was part of a 600 acre tract that was conveyed to Daniel S. Hylton by Charles Carter, trustee, in the William Byrd lottery of 1776. In the ear... [click for more]
Young’s SpringJust one block southwest at Young's Spring on Upham Brook, slaves often congregated on weekends to hold religious services and social gatherings. This... [click for more]