Category Archives: Hollywood Cemetery

Reported Snakebite Leads to Search

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If you were like me and wondering what the helicopter was all about last night- here’s your answer- someone called 911 about a snakebite- and then could not be found.

Here is what the City’s emergency incident website showed last night:

412 S CHERRY ST RICH / CrossStreet: SPRING ST- FIRE, WATER RESCUE (Special Assignment) -On Scene 12:07 AM -47 YOA MALE C/B…JUMPED IN THE WATER…ADVISE HE IS NOW NUMB FROM THE BACK DOWN

Here is what WTVR reported this morning:

RICHMOND, VA (WTVR) – Richmond Emergency Crews Spent the majority of Sunday night into Monday morning searching for a man by the side of the James River.
Police called in emergency crews around 11 p.m. Sunday night.
CBS 6 has learned that the man called 911 saying he had been bitten by a snake in the woods near Hollywood Cemetery and the James River.
Multiple ground crews and a helicopter could be seen searching for the man. The search lasted for three and a half hours, and stretched from the Mayo Bridge all the way up to the Nickel Bridge.
No one was ever found. Crews called of the search at 3:23 Monday morning.

This seems a bit ironic considering recent posts….

Followed By The Black Dog….

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from recent blog post:

Interesting note, when the voices came back I was in college at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University). I’m an aspiring writer and love the unknown and grave yards and one day I walked around Hollywood Cemetery, a very large and peaceful place, admiring the old tomb stones and sepulchers. Its. As I entered I immediately felt like the dead knew I was there. I felt like I was floating away from the outside world. The cars and outside noises went away. I felt something calling me in the very center of the cemetery. If I were to follow it it be like I’d float right out of my own body. Hollywood cemetery, local legend, is known to be haunted. I followed the calling out of interest and as I went further I saw a black dog come out of nowhere. Now I know black dogs guard the line between life and death but I took it as a real dog. So I backed away and turned around, avoiding eye contact. I turned back around to see if it was following me, it wasn’t. It had disappeared.

(Btw, though no Black Dog in it, click here for another recent blog post about a walk through Hollywood Cemetery)

Sacred Spaces in Oregon Hill

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The Commonwealth Society, part of VCU’s Special Programs, offers opportunities to meet new people, explore new subjects, enjoy field trips and much more.

Coming up on their Spring 2011 schedule is “Sacred Spaces in Oregon Hill” (click any preceding text for website):

Wednesdays, April 27 to May 25
9 to 11 a.m.

Oregon Hill Historic District is a fine 19th- and early-20th-century working-class neighborhood with architecture and streetscapes that illustrate how industrial workers lived. Access to the James River and Kanawha Canal and the industries that were growing along these waterways furthered and expanded the growth of the population in the area. Through lectures and walking tours, we will look at the history of this Richmond neighborhood and examine such landmarks as Hollywood Cemetery, St. Andrews and Pine Street churches and the Virginia War Memorial.

Instructor: Edwin Slipek Jr., an architectural historian and architecture critic for Style Weekly, teaches at VCU and Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies.

I don’t know if if this class is full yet, but for more information, you can call (804) 828-3635 or e-mail psworley at vcu.edu.

Gun Volleys In Hollywood This Sunday

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From David Gilliam of Hollywood Cemetery:

Scott,
I hope this message finds you well.
I am writing to inform you that a memorial ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, February 6th at 3 p.m. at the J.E.B. Stuart’s grave site. There will be volleys fired as a part of the service.
Thank you for getting this message out to the surrounding neighbors.
Take care,
David

For more on General J.E.B. Stuart, click here.

I will also note that this Friday, University of Richmond President Edward Ayers, will be giving a talk called “Why Should You Care About the Civil War?”

Walter “Sonny” Waller

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From the Times Dispatch (click here for full obituary):

WALLER, Walter S. “Sonny,” age 72, of Mechanicsville, and originally of Oregon Hill, passed away Friday, January 14, 2011….
The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, January 17, at Bliley’s – Central, 3801 Augusta Ave., and where a chapel service will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday, January 18. Interment will follow in Hollywood Cemetery.

New Hollywood Cemetery Book Events

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From Richmond History Center site:

A new book by Richmond resident John Peters, published by the History Center. This hardbound collection of historical and contemporary photographs and narrative about one of the country’s most famous cemeteries is available in the History Center Gift Shop. The author will sign books at St. James Bazaar at Fountain Books on December 3rd and will deliver the Banner lectures at the Virginia Historical Society on December 9th.

Halloween Hollywood Cemetery Walk

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October 31, 2010, 2:00pm-4:00pm. The cost is $10 per person.

Join local historian and scholar James DuPriest for a fascinating stroll through the legends and beauty of Hollywood Cemetery. Enjoy the unique and exquisite funerary art, and learn about the U.S. presidents, Confederate heroes, and other famous Americans buried here. Meet at the main entrance at Albemarle and Cherry streets, and wear comfortable walking shoes. Autographed copies of Mr. DuPriest’s book will be available for sale. For more information please contact RICHMOND DISCOVERIES at (804) 222-8595 or richmonddiscoveries at cavtel.net.