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85-560: Court End is a neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia , that sits to the north of the Capitol Square and East Broad Street . It developed in the Federal era, after Virginia's capital moved from Williamsburg . Located on the northern end of Shockoe Hill, its boundaries are Grace and Capital Streets to the south, Jackson Street to the north, College and 14th Streets to the east and Seventh Street to

170-646: A general advance. When the Union Sixth Corps broke through Confederate lines on the Boydton Plank Road south of Petersburg, Confederate casualties exceeded 5,000, about a tenth of Lee's defending army. Lee then informed President Jefferson Davis that he intended to evacuate Richmond. On April 2, 1865, the Confederate Army began Richmond's evacuation. Confederate President Davis and his cabinet, Confederate government archives, and its treasury's gold, left

255-456: A general retreat southwestward, and General Lee continued to reject General Grant's surrender entreaties until Sheridan's infantry and cavalry encircled the shrinking Army of Northern Virginia and cut off its ability to retreat further on April 8. Lee surrendered his remaining approximately 10,000 troops the following morning at Appomattox Court House , meeting Grant at the McLean Home. Davis

340-620: A major railroad crossroads, showcasing the world's first triple railroad crossing. Tobacco warehousing and processing continued to play a central economic role, advanced by the world's first cigarette-rolling machine that James Albert Bonsack of Roanoke invented between 1880 and 1881. Another important contributor to Richmond's resurgence was the Richmond Union Passenger Railway , a trolley system developed by electric power pioneer Frank J. Sprague . The system opened its first Richmond line in 1888, using an overhead wire and

425-461: A more centralized location for Virginia's increasing western population and theoretically isolating the capital from a British attack from the coast. In 1781, Loyalist troops led by Benedict Arnold led a raid on Richmond and burnt it, leading Governor Thomas Jefferson to flee while the Virginia militia , led by Sampson Mathews , unsuccessfully defended the city. Richmond recovered quickly from

510-476: A multimillion-dollar flood wall was completed, protecting the city's low-lying areas from the oft-rising James River. Consequently, the River District businesses grew rapidly, bolstered by the creation of a Canal Walk along the city's former industrial canals. Today the area is home to much of Richmond's entertainment, dining, and nightlife activity. In 1996, racial tensions grew amid controversy about adding

595-489: A purpose-built museum building in 1976, the collections and exhibits were moved to the new building. From 1976 to 1988, the museum led a full-scale restoration of the mansion, which ultimately returned the exterior and the first and second floor interiors to their wartime appearance. Critically acclaimed for the extensive attention to detail during restoration, for its full complement of period furnishings, and for its fair quantity of relevant pieces from its original furnishings,

680-641: A railroad hub, and one of the largest slave markets. It also had the largest Confederate arms factory, the Tredegar Iron Works . The factory produced artillery and other munitions, including heavy ordnance machinery and the 723 tons of armor plating that covered the CSS Virginia , the world's first ironclad ship used in war. The Confederate States Congress shared quarters in the Jefferson-designed Virginia State Capitol with

765-495: A suburban character as part of Chesterfield County before being annexed by Richmond, most notably in 1970. Richmond has a humid subtropical ( Köppen : Cfa ) or oceanic ( Trewartha : Do ) climate, with hot, humid summers and moderately cold winters. The mountains to the west act as a partial barrier to outbreaks of cold, continental air in winter. Arctic air is delayed long enough to be modified and further warmed as it subsides in its approach to Richmond. The open waters of

850-450: A trolley pole to connect to the current and electric motors on the car's trucks. The success led to electric streetcar lines rapidly spreading to other cities. A post-World War II transition to buses from streetcars began in May 1947 and was completed on November 25, 1949. By the beginning of the 20th century, the city's population had reached 85,050 in 5 sq mi (13 km ), making it

935-498: Is 11 °F (−12 °C), set on February 11 and 12, 1899 . The record warm minimum is 81 °F (27 °C), set on July 12, 2011. The warmest months recorded were July 2020 and August 1900, both averaging 82.9°F (28.3 °C). The coldest, January 1940, averaged 24.2 °F (-4.3 °C). Precipitation is rather uniformly distributed throughout the year. Dry periods lasting several weeks sometimes occur, especially in autumn, when long periods of pleasant, mild weather are most common. There

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1020-400: Is at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64 and encircled by Interstate 295 , Virginia State Route 150 and Virginia State Route 288 . Major suburbs include Midlothian to the southwest, Chesterfield to the south, Varina to the southeast, Sandston to the east, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west, and Mechanicsville to the northeast. Richmond

1105-697: Is considerable variability in total monthly precipitation amounts from year to year, so no one month can be depended to be normal. Snow has been recorded during seven of the 12 months. Falls of 4 in (10 cm) or more within 24 hours occur once a year on average. Annual snowfall is usually moderate, averaging 10.5 in (27 cm) per season. Snow typically remains on the ground for only one or two days, but it remained for 16 days in 2010 (January 30 to February 14). Ice storms (freezing rain or glaze) are not uncommon, but they are seldom severe enough to cause considerable damage. The James River reaches tidewater at Richmond, where flooding may occur in any month of

1190-656: Is home to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and a Federal Reserve Bank (one of 13 such courts and one of 12 such banks ). After the first permanent English-speaking settlement was established at Jamestown, Virginia , in April 1607, Captain Christopher Newport led explorers northwest up the James River to an inhabited area in the Powhatan Nation. Richmond was Arrohattoc territory where Arrohateck village

1275-488: Is surrounded by Henrico County , which has a population of about 334,000. The Greater Richmond region has an estimated population of about 1.3 million. As of the 2010 United States census , there were 204,214 people living in the city. 50.6% were Black or African American , 40.8% White , 2.3% Asian , 0.3% Native American , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 3.6% of some other race and 2.3% of two or more races . 6.3% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). White House of

1360-751: The Blue Ridge Mountains . Significant bodies of water in the region include the James River , the Appomattox River , and the Chickahominy River . The Richmond-Petersburg Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 44th largest in the United States, includes the independent cities of Richmond, Colonial Heights , Hopewell , and Petersburg , and the counties of Charles City , Chesterfield , Dinwiddie , Goochland , Hanover , Henrico , New Kent , Powhatan , and Prince George . On July 1, 2009,

1445-591: The Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean contribute to the humid summers and cool winters. The coldest weather normally occurs from late December to early February, and the January daily mean temperature is 37.9 °F (3.3 °C), with an average of 6.0 days with highs at or below the freezing mark. Richmond's Downtown and areas south and east of downtown are in USDA Hardiness zones 7b. Surrounding suburbs and areas to

1530-633: The Egyptian Building , First African Baptist Church , the Medical College of Virginia 's West Hospital and Morson's Row . Notable architects associated with Court End include Robert Mills (architect) , who designed Monumental Church, Thomas U. Walter , who designed First Baptist Church, now Hunton Hall, Alexander Parris and Walter Dorwin Teague , who designed the Centennial Dome . According to

1615-680: The Mexican War , including bone spurs in his heel, and insomnia . As a result, Davis maintained an at-home office on the second floor of the house, where his personal secretary Colonel Burton Harrison also resided. (This was not an unusual practice at the time, and the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C. , was similarly added during the Theodore Roosevelt administration .) The house

1700-665: The Patrick Henry Building , and MCV West Hospital . Free attractions include the Richmond City Hall Observation Deck and the Library of Virginia . Other building lobbies are open to the public, including Old City Hall. The area's historic status as entertainment district was restored with Historic Richmond Foundation 's sale of the National Theater for restoration into a music hall. The White House of

1785-652: The River Thames . In 1742, the settlement was incorporated as a town. In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his famous " Give me liberty, or give me death " speech in Richmond's St. John's Church , greatly influencing Virginia's participation in the First Continental Congress and the course of the American Revolution . On April 18, 1780, the state capital was moved from Williamsburg to Richmond, providing

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1870-600: The United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 62 sq mi (160 km ), of which 60 sq mi (160 km ) is land and 2.7 sq mi (7.0 km ) (4.3%) is water. The city is in the Piedmont region of Virginia , at the James River's highest navigable point. The Piedmont region is characterized by relatively low, rolling hills, and lies between the low, flat Tidewater region and

1955-568: The Virginia General Assembly . The Confederacy's executive mansion, known as the " White House of the Confederacy ," was two blocks away on Clay Street. Located about 100 mi (160 km) from the national capital in Washington, D.C. , Richmond was at the end of a long supply line and difficult to defend. For four years, its defense required the bulk of the Army of Northern Virginia and

2040-761: The Virginia Historical Society and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts . South of the Downtown Expressway are Byrd Park , Maymont , Hollywood Cemetery , the predominantly black working-class Randolph neighborhood, and white working-class Oregon Hill . Cary Street between Interstate 195 and the Boulevard is a popular commercial area called Carytown . Richmond's Northside is home to numerous listed historic districts. Neighborhoods such as Chestnut Hill-Plateau and Barton Heights began to be developed at

2125-491: The 25th Corps of the United States Colored Troops , accepted Richmond's surrender from the mayor and a group of leading citizens who did not evacuate. Union troops eventually contained the fires, but about 25% of the city's buildings were destroyed. On April 3, President Abraham Lincoln visited Grant at Petersburg and took a launch up the James River to Richmond on April 4. While Davis attempted to organize

2210-647: The Brockenbrough family in 1844, the house passed through a succession of wealthy families throughout the antebellum period, including U.S. Congressman and future Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon . Just prior to the American Civil War , Lewis Dabney Crenshaw purchased the house and added a third floor. He sold the home to the City of Richmond. In May 1861, the capital of the Confederate States of America

2295-682: The Carver and Newtowne West neighborhoods are demographically similar to neighboring Jackson Ward .Carver has seen some gentrification due to its proximity to VCU. The affluent area between the Boulevard , Main Street, Broad Street, and VCU, known as the Fan , is home to Monument Avenue , an outstanding collection of Victorian architecture , and many students. West of the Boulevard is the Museum District, which contains

2380-561: The Confederacy The Second White House of the Confederacy is a historic house located in the Court End neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia . Built in 1818, it served as the main executive residence of the sole President of the Confederate States of America , Jefferson Davis , from August 1861 until April 1865. It currently sits on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University . The Jefferson Davis Executive Mansion

2465-597: The Confederacy's best troops and commanders. The Union army made Richmond a main target in the campaigns of 1862 and 1864–65. In late June and early July 1862, Union General-in-Chief George B. McClellan threatened but failed to take Richmond in the Seven Days Battles of the Peninsula campaign . Three years later, Richmond became indefensible in March 1865 after nearby Petersburg fell and several remaining rail supply lines to

2550-483: The Confederacy, Wickham House, and John Marshall House have each been restored to their original appearances, and remain open to the public. There is an effort to package the neighborhood's various paid attractions. The Court End Passport , sold by the Valentine Richmond History Center , provides access to buildings in the neighborhood, including John Marshall House , and Wickham House . Each year,

2635-506: The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter , the Virginia legislature voted to secede from the United States and join the newly created Confederate States of America on April 17, 1861. The action became official in May, after the Confederacy promised to move its national capital to Richmond from Montgomery, Alabama . Richmond held local, state and national Confederate government offices, hospitals,

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2720-681: The Confederate government in Danville , Lincoln met Confederate Assistant Secretary of War John A. Campbell , handing him a note inviting Virginia's state legislature to end their rebellion. After Campbell spun the note to Confederate legislators as a possible end to the Emancipation Proclamation , Lincoln rescinded his offer and ordered General Weitzel to prevent the state legislature from meeting. On April 6, Union forces killed, wounded, or captured 8,000 Confederate troops at Sayler's Creek , southwest of Petersburg. The Confederate Army continued

2805-557: The Medical College of Virginia – now the VCU Medical School. MCV grew into a successful and respectable school, and by its merger with VCU in 1968, had developed one of the best trauma centers on the east coast. The school and its hospital remain among America’s finest. Secondly, efforts began to preserve a number of the neighborhoods more famous addresses, mainly by creating independent house museums. Three organizations formed

2890-642: The Museum of the Confederacy) for eight decades. As an interpretation of the house museum's relevance, the name "White House of the Confederacy" began common use. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1960, was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1966, and was added to the Virginia Landmark Register in 1969. When the Museum of the Confederacy completed construction of

2975-585: The North. Nonetheless, the James Falls area saw more White settlement in the late 1600s and early 1700s. In early 1737, planter William Byrd II commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid, completed in April. Byrd named the city after the English town of Richmond near (and now part of) London, because the view of the James River's bend at the fall line reminded him of his home at Richmond Hill on

3060-652: The Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (now Preservation Virginia ) gained its foothold in Richmond by saving the John Marshall House , in 1911. Later efforts by a fourth preservation player, the Historic Richmond Foundation , helped preserve Monumental Church , 1965. In 1950, Mary Wingfield Scott warned, “one can only fear that except for the buildings protected as are the Confederate Museum,

3145-645: The Putney Houses, William H. Grant House, and the Leigh House. Except for museums, most of the area is publicly owned, as Virginia Commonwealth University 's Medical College of Virginia campus is a primary landowner in the area, as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia and City of Richmond. The neighborhood's 20th century inventory is strong, with the Depression era Virginia Department of Transportation Headquarters,

3230-442: The Richmond area. Downtown Richmond averages 84 days of nighttime frost annually. Nighttime frost is more common in areas north and west of Downtown and less common south and east of downtown. From 1981 to 2010, the average first temperature at or below freezing was on October 30 and the average last one on April 10. See or edit raw graph data . Richmond's population is approximately 226,000. As an independent city, Richmond

3315-542: The Richmond—Petersburg MSA 's population was 1,258,251. Richmond is located 21.69 mi (34.91 km) north of Petersburg, Virginia , 66.1 mi (106.4 km) southeast of Charlottesville, Virginia , 79.24 mi (127.52 km) northwest of Norfolk, Virginia , 96.87 mi (155.90 km) south of Washington, D.C. , and 138.72 mi (223.25 km) northeast of Raleigh, North Carolina . Richmond's original street grid, laid out in 1737, included

3400-565: The South and the country. By 1850, Richmond was connected by the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad to Port Walthall , where ships carrying over 200 tons of cargo could connect to Baltimore or Philadelphia . Passenger liners could reach Norfolk, Virginia , through the Hampton Roads harbor. In the 19th century, Richmond was connected to the North by the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad , later replaced by CSXT . The railroad also

3485-712: The United States. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city since 1871. The city's population in the 2020 census was 226,610, up from 204,214 in 2010, making it Virginia's fourth-most populous city . The Richmond metropolitan area , with over 1.3 million residents, is the Commonwealth's third-most populous . Richmond is located at the James River's fall line , 44 mi (71 km) west of Williamsburg , 66 mi (106 km) east of Charlottesville , 91 mi (146 km) east of Lynchburg and 92 mi (148 km) south of Washington, D.C. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, Richmond

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3570-658: The Valentine Museum, and the John Marshall House, all traces of Richmond’s past will soon disappear from this, the most historic of its many old neighborhoods.” Her prediction has proven true, for the most part. Despite the medical college’s expansion, however, VCU has saved a number of historic houses and other buildings within the Court End, including the William Beers House, Egyptian Building, First Baptist Church,

3655-499: The affluent and middle-class suburban Westover Hills, Forest Hill, Southampton, Stratford Hills, Oxford, Huguenot Hills, Hobby Hill, and Woodland Heights to the impoverished Manchester and Blackwell areas, the Hillside Court housing projects, and the ailing Jefferson Davis Highway commercial corridor. Other Southside neighborhoods include Fawnbrook, Broad Rock, Cherry Gardens, Cullenwood, and Beaufont Hills. Much of Southside developed

3740-607: The anchors for this effort, and are still in operation, today. The Confederate Memorial Literary Society formed in 1890 to save the White House of the Confederacy from demolition. In 1896, the CMLS opened what is now the Museum of the Confederacy . In 1892, the Valentine family began its non-profit corporation to create a museum for local history. Its museum, now the Valentine Richmond History Center , opened its doors in 1898. The Association for

3825-402: The area between what are now Broad, 17th, and 25th Streets and the James River. Modern Downtown Richmond is slightly farther west, on the slopes of Shockoe Hill. Nearby neighborhoods include Shockoe Bottom , the historically significant and low-lying area between Shockoe Hill and Church Hill , and Monroe Ward, which contains the Jefferson Hotel . Richmond's East End includes neighborhoods like

3910-418: The areas around the Regency Mall. More affluent areas include Glen Allen, Short Pump, and the areas of Tuckahoe away from Regency Mall, all north and northwest of the city. The University of Richmond and the Country Club of Virginia are located on this side of town near the Richmond-Henrico border. The portion of the city south of the James River is known as the Southside. Southside neighborhoods range from

3995-477: The capital of the Confederacy, Court End remained a neighborhood of wealth but also served as the host community for many of the Confederacy’s major players, most especially President Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy’s first family (the Brockenbrough-Crenshaw House, which from the 1890s, is referred to as the White House of the Confederacy , at the southeast corner of 12th and Clay Streets), and briefly, Vice President Alexander Stephens (the Bruce-Lancaster House, on

4080-427: The city announced its plans to demolish the building to make way for a more modern school building in 1890, the Confederate Memorial Literary Society was formed with the sole purpose of saving the house from destruction. The CMLS raised funds to start a museum and acquired the deed to the property from the city of Richmond. Opened to the public in 1896, the house became the home of the Confederate Museum (later renamed

4165-476: The city itself had declined to less than 200,000. On November 2, 2004, former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder was elected as the city's first directly elected mayor in over 60 years. Most of the statues honoring Confederate leaders such as the Robert E. Lee monument on Monument Avenue were removed during or after the George Floyd protests on June 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek M. Chauvin . The city removed

4250-416: The city that night by train. Confederate officials burned documents and troops burned tobacco and other warehouses to deny the Union any spoils. In the early morning of April 3, Confederate troops exploded the city's gunpowder magazine, killing several paupers in a temporary Almshouse and a man on 2nd St. The concussion shattered windows all over the city. Later that day, General Godfrey Weitzel , commander of

4335-431: The downtown area suffered extensive flood damage after the remnants of Hurricane Gaston dumped up to 12 in (300 mm) of rain. Damaging storms occur mainly from snow and freezing rain in winter, and from hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms in other seasons. Damage can come from wind, flooding, rain, or a combination of the three. Tornadoes are infrequent, but some notable ones have been observed in

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4420-475: The end of the 19th century when the new streetcar system made it possible for people to live on the city's outskirts and commute downtown. Other prominent Northside neighborhoods include Azalea, Barton Heights, Bellevue, Chamberlayne, Ginter Park, Highland Park, and Rosedale. Farther west is the affluent, suburban West End . Windsor Farms is among its best-known sections. The West End also includes middle- to low-income neighborhoods, such as Laurel, Farmington, and

4505-408: The fall line to the ocean-faring ships below. The canal boatmen legacy is represented by the figure in the center of the city flag. Because of the canal and the hydropower the falls generated, Richmond emerged as an important industrial center after the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). It became home to some of the largest manufacturing facilities, including iron works and flour mills, in

4590-439: The first European settlement in Central Virginia was established at Henricus , where the Falling Creek empties into the James River. In 1619, early Virginia Company settlers established the Falling Creek Ironworks there. Decades of conflicts between the Powhatan and the settlers followed, including the Battle of Bloody Run , fought near Richmond in 1656, after tensions arose from an influx of Manahoacs and Nahyssans from

4675-454: The first floor, feeling it would be improper to visit the more private second floor of another man's home. Admiral David Dixon Porter accompanied Lincoln during the visit. They held a number of meetings with local officials in the house, including Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Reid Anderson , who owned the Tredegar Iron Works . During Reconstruction , the house served as the headquarters for Military District Number One (Virginia), and

4760-536: The former city of Manchester consolidated with Richmond, and in 1914 the city annexed Barton Heights, Ginter Park, and Highland Park in Henrico County . In May 1914, Richmond became the headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve Bank . Several major performing arts venues were constructed during the 1920s, including what are now the Landmark Theatre, Byrd Theatre, and Carpenter Theatre. The city's first radio station, WRVA , began broadcasting in 1925. WTVR-TV (CBS 6), Richmond's first television station,

4845-545: The house, in 1861 and 1864, respectively. Among their neighborhood playmates was George Smith Patton , whose father commanded the 22nd Virginia Infantry , and whose son commanded the U.S. Third Army in World War Two. Joseph Davis died in the spring of 1864, after a 15-foot fall from the railing on the house's east portico. Mrs. Davis' mother and sister were occasional visitors to the Confederate executive mansion. Davis suffered recurring bouts of malaria , facial neuralgia , cataracts (in his left eye), unhealed wounds from

4930-477: The last Confederate statue, honoring Confederate General General A. P. Hill , on December 12, 2022. The only statue remaining on Monument Avenue is of Arthur Ashe, the pioneering Black tennis player. The Bill "Bojangles" Robinson monument in Jackson Ward was untouched during the protests and remained in place. Richmond is located at 37°32′N 77°28′W  /  37.533°N 77.467°W  / 37.533; -77.467 (37.538, −77.462). According to

5015-424: The mid-twentieth-century historian, author and preservationist, Mary Wingfield Scott , the Court End District dates to the 1780s, and grew naturally as a prestigious neighborhood due to its close proximity to Thomas Jefferson’s new Capitol . Before its heyday as the neighborhood of Richmond’s elite, there once stood a vibrant theater district and a large scale market. The great theater fire of 1811 destroyed most of

5100-464: The most densely populated city in the Southern United States . In the 1900 Census, Richmond's population was 62.1% white and 37.9% black. Freed slaves and their descendants created a thriving African-American business community, and the city's historic Jackson Ward became known as the "Wall Street of Black America." In 1903, African-American businesswoman and financier Maggie L. Walker chartered St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, served as its president, and

5185-422: The neighborhood sponsors Court End Christmas , where many of the buildings, including those owned by VCU , are open to the public. The Museum (and White House) of the Confederacy also has packaged ticketing agreements, primarily with other Civil War sites. Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( / ˈ r ɪ tʃ m ə n d / RITCH -mənd ) is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Virginia in

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5270-628: The north and west of Downtown are in Hardiness Zone 7a. Temperatures seldom fall below 0 °F (−18 °C), with the most recent subzero reading on January 7, 2018, when the temperature reached −3 °F (−19 °C). The July daily mean temperature is 79.3 °F (26.3 °C), and high temperatures reach or exceed 90 °F (32 °C) approximately 43 days a year; 100 °F (38 °C) temperatures are not uncommon but do not occur every year. Extremes in temperature have ranged from −12 °F (−24 °C) on January 19, 1940, to 107 °F (42 °C) on August 6, 1918. The record cold maximum

5355-442: The northwest corner of 12th and Clay). During Reconstruction, Davis’ former mansion was used as the military headquarters for militarily governed Virginia. Afterwards and for twenty years, the City of Richmond used it as its first public school, Richmond Central School. By the 1890s, two distinct efforts were under way within the Court End district. First, the several small medical colleges that began there, consolidated to create

5440-436: The passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom written by Thomas Jefferson . During the American Civil War , Richmond was the capital of the Confederate States of America . The Jackson Ward neighborhood is the city's traditional hub of African American commerce and culture, once known as the "Black Wall Street of America" and the "Harlem of the South." At the beginning of the 20th century, Richmond had one of

5525-461: The rapidly gentrifying Church Hill , home to St. John's Church , poorer areas like Fulton , Union Hill, and Fairmont, and public housing projects like Mosby Court , Whitcomb Court, Fairfield Court, and Creighton Court closer to Interstate 64 . The area between Belvidere Street, Interstate 195 , Interstate 95 , and the river, which includes Virginia Commonwealth University , is socioeconomically and architecturally diverse. North of Broad Street,

5610-450: The south and southwest were broken. On March 25, Confederate General John B. Gordon 's desperate attack on Fort Stedman , east of Petersburg, failed. On April 1, Union Cavalry General Philip Sheridan , assigned to interdict the Southside Railroad, met brigades commanded by Southern General George Pickett at the Five Forks Junction, defeated them, took thousands of prisoners, and advised Union General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant to order

5695-409: The statue of African American Richmond native and tennis star Arthur Ashe to the series of statues of Confederate figures on Monument Avenue . After several months of controversy, Ashe's bronze statue was finally completed on July 10, 1996. By the beginning of the 21st century, the population of the greater Richmond metropolitan area had reached approximately 1,100,000, although the population of

5780-404: The upper James River and provide a water route across the Appalachian Mountains to the Kanawha River , which flows westward into the Ohio River and converges with the Mississippi River , George Washington helped design the James River and Kanawha Canal . The canal started in Westham and cut east to Richmond, facilitating the transfer of cargo from flat-bottomed James River bateaux above

5865-426: The war, thriving within a year of its burning. In 1786, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom , drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was enacted, separating church and state and advancing the legal principle for freedom of religion in the United States. In 1788, the Virginia State Capitol , designed by Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau in the Greek Revival style , was completed. To bypass Richmond's rapids on

5950-487: The west. Early American Federal architecture that is open to the public in Court End include the John Marshall House , Monumental Church , the Wickham House at the Valentine Richmond History Center , the White House of the Confederacy at the Museum of the Confederacy , Executive Mansion and Virginia State Capitol . Other adjacent historic structures include the Capitol Square Bell Tower , Hotel Richmond , Murphy's Hotel , Old City Hall . The neighborhood includes

6035-467: The world's first successful electric streetcar systems. Law, finance, and government primarily drive Richmond's economy. The downtown area is home to federal, state, and local governmental agencies as well as notable legal and banking firms. The greater metropolitan area includes several Fortune 500 companies: Performance Food Group , Altria , CarMax , Dominion Energy , Markel , Owens and Minor , Genworth Financial , and ARKO Corp . The city

6120-459: The year, most frequently in March and least in July. Hurricanes and tropical storms have been responsible for most flooding during the summer and early fall months. Hurricanes passing near Richmond have produced record rainfalls. In 1955, three hurricanes, including Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane , which brought heavy rains five days apart, produced record rainfall in a six-week period. In 2004,

6205-561: The “Theater Block,” and the market failed to compete with the better established Old State Market or “First Market” in nearby Shockoe Bottom . The neighborhood grew in waves, primarily in the 1780s, 1810s, and 1840s. The Court End was the home of large number of Richmond’s important houses of worship, including First Presbyterian, First Baptist, St. Paul’s Episcopal, First African Baptist, Monumental, and Sycamore Churches, St. Peter’s Cathedral, and Beth Shalome and Beth Ahabah Synagogues. The Richmond Female Institute, or Baptist Women’s Institute,

6290-463: Was abandoned during the evacuation of Richmond on April 2, 1865 and within twelve hours had been seized intact by soldiers from Major General Godfrey Weitzel 's XVIII Corps. President Abraham Lincoln , who was in nearby City Point (now Hopewell, Virginia ), traveled up the James River to tour the captured city, and visited Davis' former residence for about three hours – although the President only toured

6375-633: Was also the first TV station south of Washington, D.C. Between 1963 and 1965, there was a "downtown boom" that led to the construction of more than 700 buildings. In 1968, Virginia Commonwealth University was created by the merger of the Medical College of Virginia and the Richmond Professional Institute . On January 1, 1970, Richmond's borders expanded south by 27 sq mi (70 km ) and its population increased by 47,000 after several years of court cases in which Chesterfield County unsuccessfully fought annexation. In 1995,

6460-606: Was an important village in the Powhatan Confederacy and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown from 1609 to 1611. Founded in 1737, it replaced Williamsburg as the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780. During the Revolutionary War period, several notable events occurred in the city, including Patrick Henry 's " Give me liberty, or give me death! " speech in 1775 at St. John's Church and

6545-473: Was captured on May 10 near Irwinville, Georgia and taken back to Virginia, where he was imprisoned two years at Fort Monroe until freed on bail. A decade after the Civil War, Richmond resumed its position as a major urban center of economic productivity with iron front buildings and massive brick factories. Canal traffic peaked in the 1860s, with railroads becoming the dominant shipping method. Richmond became

6630-503: Was located in the heart of the Court End. It later formed Westmoreland College, which in turn, became the women’s school within the University of Richmond . Its nineteenth century building towered over and dominated the Court End cityscape. The Hampden-Sydney Medical College built its Egyptian Revival style lecture hall, The Egyptian Building , in 1845, thus planting the seeds of what became VCU Medical School. While Richmond served as

6715-484: Was located. However, as time progressed relations between the Arrohattocs and English colonists declined, and by 1609 the tribe was unwilling to trade with the settlers. As the population began to dwindle, the tribe declined and was last mentioned in a 1610 report by the visiting William Strachey. By 1611 the tribe's Henrico town was found to be deserted when Sir Thomas Dale went to use the land to found Henricus. In 1611,

6800-678: Was moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, and President Jefferson Davis and his family vacated the First White House of the Confederacy in Montgomery and moved to the house in Richmond, which was leased by the Confederate government from the city. The Davis family was quite young during their stay at the house. When they moved in, the family consisted of the president and first lady, six-year-old Margaret, four-year-old Jefferson Davis, Jr., and two-year-old Joseph. The two youngest Davis children, William and Varina Anne ("Winnie") , were born in

6885-498: Was occasionally used as the residence of the commanding officer of the Department of Virginia. Among those who served there were Major Generals Edward O.C. Ord , Alfred Terry , Henry Halleck , and Edward R.S. Canby . When Reconstruction ended in Virginia, (October 1870), the city of Richmond retook possession of the house, and subsequently used it as Richmond Central School, one of the first public schools in postwar Richmond. When

6970-613: Was owned by the Confederate Memorial Literary Society from 1894 until 2014, when the Museum of the Confederacy merged with the American Civil War Center. The merged entity is now the American Civil War Museum . It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. The second White House of the Confederacy is a gray stuccoed neoclassical mansion built in 1818 by John Brockenbrough , who

7055-721: Was president of the Bank of Virginia. Designed by Robert Mills , Brockenbrough's second private residence in Richmond was built on K Street (later renamed Clay Street) in Richmond 's affluent Shockoe Hill neighborhood (later known as the Court End District), and was two blocks north of the Virginia State Capitol. Among his neighbors were U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall , Aaron Burr 's defense attorney John Wickham , and future U.S. Senator Benjamin Watkins Leigh . Sold by

7140-499: Was the first black female bank president in the United States. Charles Thaddeus Russell was Richmond's first black architect, and he designed the bank's office. Today, the bank is called the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company and is the country's oldest surviving African-American bank. Another prominent African-American from this time was John Mitchell Jr. , a newspaper editor, civil rights activist, and politician. In 1910,

7225-545: Was used by some to escape slavery in the mid-19th century. In 1849, Henry "Box" Brown had himself nailed into a small box and shipped from Richmond to abolitionists in Philadelphia through Baltimore 's President Street Station on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad , often used by the Underground Railroad to assist escaping disguised slaves reach the free state of Pennsylvania . Five days after

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