In 1880, a lauded Confederate photographer, made famous for his images taken at Fort Sumter, moved his family and his photography studio to Richmond, Virginia. For the next two decades, George Cook (shown here in his studio at 913 East Main…
With the establishment of Jamestown, a long and complicated relationship between Native Americans – the first Virginians – and English colonists began. As John Smith explored the surrounding territory in 1607, he traded with one tribe that lived in villages…
In 1970, in order to satisfy a federal mandate to desegregate Richmond Public Schools, Judge Robert Merhige, Jr. ordered the implementation of a busing program that would attempt to achieve racial balance in the school system. At the time of…
As the first, largest, and wealthiest English colony in the New World, Virginia has a rich political history reaching back to our nation’s founding. Four of the first five presidents – Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe – were Virginia-born. In…
The oldest private club in Richmond was founded in 1876 by seven men with one six-person boat. With the addition of a coxswain in the stern, the Virginia Boat Club fit in that boat for rowing exercises on the James River. Over…
On August 17, 1969, a rare category 5 hurricane hit Mississippi and tracked north as it weakened into a tropical depression. Hurricane Camille, however, took a sharp, unexpected eastward turn and moved over the mountains into Virginia. Taking the state by…
The first African American governor in United States history, L. Douglas Wilder was born in Richmond’s Church Hill district in 1931. There, he was raised with five sisters and a brother at 28th and P Streets, amidst a backdrop he…
In the days when it wasn’t considered proper to work or earn money, widowhood or other circumstances in which men weren’t in the picture might have forced women to choose between survival and respectability. In the years after the Civil…
For nearly three centuries, the James River has been vital to Richmond’s economic growth. From hydropower to shipping to beer production to recreation and tourism, the river’s waters are the foundation of our modern city. This foundation was revealed quite literally…
In an attempt to lure riders to their streetcar line, the Virginia Manchester Railway opened a combination terminal and amusement park just south of the James in 1890. Accessible with a 5-cent trolley ticket, Forest Hill Park was built on an…
