Richmond, Virginia

:This article is about the city in Virginia. For information on other cities with the same name, please see Richmond (disambiguation).

History

:Main article: History of Richmond, Virginia

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In 1607, King James I granted a royal charter to the Virginia Company of London to settle colonists in North America. After the first permanent English settlement was established later that year at Jamestown, Captain Christopher Newport and Captain John Smith set sail ten days after landing at Jamestown, traveling northwest up Powhatan's River (now known as the James River) to Powhatan Hill. The first expedition consisted of 120 men from Jamestown, and made the first attempt to settle at the Falls of the James, located between the 14th Street Bridge in modern downtown Richmond and the Pony Pasture (a recreational area along the banks of the river south of the City of Richmond). The settlement was made at this location as it is the highest navigable site along the James River.

Related Topics:
1607 - King James I - Virginia Company of London - North America - English - Jamestown - Captain Christopher Newport - Captain John Smith - James River

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Revolutionary War

In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his famous ?Give me Liberty or Give me Death? speech in St. John's Church, during the Second Virginia Convention. This speech is credited with convincing members of the House of Burgesses to pass a resolution delivering Virginia troops to the American Revolutionary War. One year later, in the throes of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

Related Topics:
1775 - Patrick Henry - Give me Liberty or Give me Death - St. John's Church - American Revolutionary War - Continental Congress - Declaration of Independence

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In 1780, Virginia?s state capital was moved from Williamsburg to Richmond. In 1781, under the command of Benedict Arnold, Richmond was burned by British troops. Yet Richmond shortly recovered, and, in May 1782, was incorporated as a city.

Related Topics:
1780 - Williamsburg - 1781 - Benedict Arnold - May - 1782

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Civil War

The aversion to the slave trade was growing by the mid-nineteenth century, and in 1848, Henry ?Box? Brown made history by having himself nailed into a small box and shipped from Richmond to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, escaping slavery to the land of freedom.

Related Topics:
1848 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the strategic location of the Tredegar Iron Works was one of the primary factors in the decision to make Richmond the Capital of the Confederacy. From this arsenal came the 723 tons of armor plating that covered the CSS Virginia, the world?s first ironclad used in war, as well as much of the Confederates' heavy ordnance machinery. In 1861, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America. One month later Davis placed Richmond under martial law. Two months after Davis? inauguration, the Confederate army fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Civil War had begun. The Seven Days Battle followed in June. Four years later the house was seized by the Union Army when Ulysses S. Grant captured Richmond in April 1865. One week later, Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant ending the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse. In 1865, on Evacuation Sunday, large parts of the city were destroyed in a fire set by retreating Confederate soldiers.

Related Topics:
American Civil War - 1861 - CSS Virginia - Ironclad - Jefferson Davis - President - Confederate States of America - Fort Sumter - Charleston, South Carolina - Ulysses S. Grant - April - 1865 - Robert E. Lee - Battle of Appomattox Courthouse

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Monument Avenue was laid out it 1887, with a series of monuments at various intersections honoring the city's Confederate heroes. Included (east to west) were J.E.B. Stuart, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew F. Maury.

Related Topics:
Monument Avenue - 1887 - J.E.B. Stuart - Robert E. Lee - Jefferson Davis - Stonewall Jackson - Matthew F. Maury

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[[Image:Post245.jpg|300px|right|thumb|An historic postcard showing electric trolley-powered streetcars in Richmond, Virginia, where Frank J. Sprague

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successfully demonstrated his new system on the hills in 1888. The intersection

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shown is at 8th & Broad Streets.]]

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Richmond had the first successful electrically-powered trolley system in the United States. Designed by electric power pioneer, Frank J. Sprague, the trolley system opened its first line in January, 1888. Richmond's hills, long a transportation obstacle, were considered an ideal proving ground. The new technology soon replaced horse-powered streetcars.

Related Topics:
Trolley - Frank J. Sprague - January - 1888 - Streetcars

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Twentieth century

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the city's population had reached 85,050.

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In 1903, African-American businesswoman and financier Maggie L. Walker chartered St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, and served as its first president, as well as

Related Topics:
1903 - Maggie L. Walker

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the first female bank president in the United States. Today, the bank is called the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company, and it is the oldest surviving African-American bank in the U.S.

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In 1914, Richmond became the headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve Bank. In 1919, at the end of World War I, Philip Morris was established in the city. The Fan district also began to develop during the 1920s.

Related Topics:
1914 - Federal Reserve Bank - 1919 - World War I - Philip Morris - 1920

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Also during the 1920s, Richmond's entertainment venues began to develop. The city's first radio station, WRVA, first began broadcasting in 1925. The Mosque also opened in 1925 (today it is called the Landmark Theater). The Byrd Theater and Loew's Theater opened in 1928 (the latter is now called Carpenter Center).

Related Topics:
1920 - Radio - WRVA - 1925 - 1928 - Carpenter Center

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Modern city development

Between 1963 and 1965, there was a huge, "downtown boom," that led to the construction of more than 700 buildings in the city. In 1968, Virginia Commonwealth University was created by the merger of the Medical College of Virginia with the Richmond Professional Institute.

Related Topics:
1963 - 1965 - 1968 - Virginia Commonwealth University - Medical College of Virginia - Richmond Professional Institute

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In 1984, the city completed the Diamond ballpark, a new home for the Richmond Braves, a AAA baseball team for the Atlanta Braves, replacing the old Parker Field. In 1985, Sixth Street Marketplace, a downtown shopping district, opened.

Related Topics:
1984 - Richmond Braves - Atlanta Braves - 1985

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A multi-million dollar floodwall was completed in 1995, in order to protect the city and the Shockoe Bottom businesses from the rising waters of the James River. Also during 1995, a statue of Richmond native and tennis star Arthur Ashe was added amid controversy to the famed series of statues of Confederate heroes of the Civil War on Monument Avenue.

Related Topics:
1995 - Arthur Ashe

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Recent renovations included the rebuilt James River and Kanawha Canal and Haxall Canal, now designed as a Canal Walk. The riverfront project has brought this 1.25-mile corridor back to life, with trendy loft apartments, restaurants, shops and hotels winding along the Canal Walk, along with canal boat cruises and walking tours. The National Park Service?s Richmond Civil War Visitor Center, in the Tredegar Iron Works, brought three floors of exhibits and artifacts, films, a bookstore, picnic areas and more. The Cordish Company also began construction of Riverside on the James, a power plant development project with shopping and entertainment venues.

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