Before Its Too Late…Today

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Scott

The current proposal to construct a baseball stadium in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom has given rise to public concern over the cultural and historical resources in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom district. In response to this public debate, history enthusiasts and preservationists, planners, students, scholars, educators, and members of the general public are invited to a one-day educational symposium on March 29th, 10:15 am to 4:00 pm at the Richmond Public Library in support of an archaeology of Shockoe Bottom… “Before It’s Too Late”.

The symposium brings together experts and scholars on Richmond’s archaeology, history, and historic preservation. The symposium will also discuss how the public can become better stewards of Richmond’s vast cultural and historical resources. Presentations will explore the archaeological review process with an emphasis upon Federal Section 106.

In regard to the 106, I hope discussion will include the Kanawha Canal. Last I heard, seats were filling up up quick.

“10th President of the United States, John Tyler”

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Scott

From Hollywood Cemetery’s FaceBook page:

Did you know that Hollywood is one of just three cemeteries with two U.S. presidents? Join us on Saturday, March 29th at 11am for a birthday celebration honoring the 10th President of the United States, John Tyler.

“Imminent Destruction of George Washington’s Historic Canal”

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Scott

From ‘City watchdog’ C.Wayne Taylor:

To: News Media

1. “Tredegar Green” is the The City of Richmond Riverfront Plan designation for the land just west of Tredegar Iron Works.

2. George Washington’s historic canal runs across the center of Tredegar Green.

3. Venture Richmond is preparing to destroy George Washington’s historic canal.

4. Venture Richmond has a grading plan pending before the city Planning Commission.

5. Venture Richmond revised its plan to dodge Department of Historic Resources review.

6. The revised plan was submitted to the city of Richmond Friday.

7. The revised plan was forwarded to the planning commission after 5pm Friday.

8. The planning commission meets on Monday at 1pm to consider the plan.

9. The public has not been officially notified of the revised plan.

While Venture Richmond may have the legal right to destroy George Washington’s historic canal, such action is contrary to the purposes of Venture Richmond. Venture Richmond is a nonprofit corporation established for the good of downtown Richmond.

Venture Richmond receives substantial financial support from the city of Richmond. Mayor Jones is the President of Venture Richmond. His administration submitted the application to the planning commission to destroy the canal.

Idlewood Avenue History

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Scott

Neighbor Todd Woodson continues to help with the Idlewood traffic project.

He recently sent this to the committee members:

While we are awaiting design updates from our friends at Kimley – Horn, I thought i’d share some of the background of the area we are working to improve. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, i’ll simply start with a grid map from the 1924 Sanborn map (thanks, C Pool!). As you can see, the downtown expressway destroyed the northern portion of grid seen here. Harrison and Idlewood (also known as Beverly street) remain as they were laid out. The pink highlighter is a rough approximation of the exit ramp and Grayland redux surrounded by Harrison and Idlewood as they exist today. The second shot is a 1976 photograph of the downtown expressway right before it opened (looking east from where the toll booths would be today). This amenity truly fractured the Randolph and Oregon Hill neighborhoods and splintered our communities. We lost a total of 700 residences and experienced 150 business relocations from the expressway…

(RRHA owns the pie shaped parcel bordered by Harrison, Idlewood and Grayland.)

Riverfront Development ‘Community Conversation’ Tuesday

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Scott

V.45.28.229a
Richmond, VA and Its Vicinity engraving
1863

The Valentine Richmond History Center collaborates with Richmond Magazine, TMI Consulting Inc. and the Future of Richmond’s Past to present this year’s Community Conversations series, conceived to engage the community in a dialogue about the region’s past and how that past can positively shape our collective future. Featured are a series of monthly discussions about various Richmond localities, from Shockoe Bottom to the Boulevard. A Richmond Magazine moderator will lead each discussion, illuminating historical and current-day perspectives that shape our understanding and experience of each location.

Riverfront Development with Jack Cooksey
Tuesday, March 4, 6-8 pm
F.W. Sullivan’s Canal Bar & Grill (Plaza Room), 1001 Haxall Point

Va. War Memorial Honors African-American Veterans Tonight

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Scott

The Virginia War Memorial will be holding a program this evening to commemorate Black History Month and honor the contributions of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Services. It will include a reception and presentation of the motion picture, Veterans of Color. It will include a tribute to the late Admiral Gravely, a Richmond native and the first African American to command a U.S. Navy ship. For more information, please click here to see a press release by the Virginia War Memorial.

Virginia Emancipation Proclamation Monument For Brown’s Island

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Scott

This past Friday, local architect Burt Pinnock gave a public talk at the University of Richmond entitled “Race In Architecture: Can Memorialization and Development Coexist?”.

Although most of the presentation was philosophical in nature with the subtext of the raging Shockoe Bottom controversy, Mr. Pinnock did generously show some slides of VERY PRELIMINARY ideas for the proposed Virginia Emancipation Proclamation and Freedom Monument for Browns Island. These visuals showed a raised structure that would offer enclosed meditative space with slats that would allow light to come in.

It will be interesting to see if this proposal, or the controversial ‘Tredegar Green’ amphitheater proposal, will be allowed for discussion at tonight’s Riverfront Plan forum. It’s worth noting that the Proclamation Monument proposal has not been without some controversy, and its worth remembering that Browns Island has been brought up as an alternative to the Kanawha Canal site for the proposed amphitheater.

J.E.B. Stuart Ceremony Will Include Gunfire

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Scott

From Hollywood Cemetery management:

We are having a ceremony on 2/8/2014 for JEB Stuart at Noon and believe there will be rifle volley and/or cannon fire. We wanted to let you know so the neighborhood can be notified of the plans.

From Wikipedia entry on JEB Stuart:

Although he enjoyed the civil engineering curriculum at the academy (West Point) and did well in mathematics, his poor drawing skills hampered his engineering studies, and he finished 29th in that discipline. A Stuart family tradition says he deliberately degraded his academic performance in his final year to avoid service in the elite, but dull, Corps of Engineers.

Holmberg on Michael Fleming Folland

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Scott

Excerpt from Holmberg piece on WTVR, Channel 6:

We reached on Facebook and found his Richmond nephew – and some of the story behind the gravestone. As it turns out, Folland has several living relatives – but no descendants.
And, as it turns out, our hero was a tough guy from an Oregon Hill, a historically white, blue-collar neighborhood known for Irish immigrants, firefighters, cops, street fighters and virtually no homicides despite its rough-and-tumble reputation.
Folland came from a family largely made up of steelworkers.
“He was a little hard-headed, troublemaking,” recalled his nephew, Lloyd “Chip” Folland of Chesterfield. “Spent some time in a juvenile detention center up in Northern Virginia. They actually have a plaque in the cafeteria with his face on it, saying you CAN become something.”

Medal of Honor winner

Company D, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade. During a firefight on that day, in Long Khanh Province, Republic of Vietnam, Folland smothered the blast of an enemy-thrown hand grenade with his body, sacrificing his life to protect those around him.

“City Council may rule on fate of park foliage”

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Scott

On March 8, 1991, an article appeared in the Times-Dispatch.

The article was about how VCU was trying to get control of the maintenance of Monroe Park and had a plan to cut down 37 of the mature trees. VCU said that the trees were “improperly placed, damaged, dangerous and add nothing to the function or aesthetics of the park,” and stated that removal of the trees would, “make the park safer.”

Fortunately this maintenance agreement was not approved in 1991 because of neighborhood objections, but if the newly proposed lease is approved, VCU would be in charge of the maintenance of the trees and would be given carte blanche to remove as many trees as it wanted without any recourse. Most of the trees that were slated to be removed in 1991 are still in the park, and there is no reason to think that VCU would not again want them removed, “to make the park safer.”

As a result of VCU’s attempt to remove 20% of the mature trees in Monroe Park in 1991, the Monroe Park Advisory Council was established with neighborhood representation from Oregon Hill, the Fan, and Carver. The proposed Monroe Park Conservancy has NO neighborhood representation, but includes four VCU administrators, and four city administrators.

Oregon Hill

News For Oregon Hill, in Richmond, VA

Category Archives: history