In 1890, Virginia Randolph Ellett opened a small school out of her home on Grace Street in downtown Richmond. Her students, many of whom came from the families of Richmond’s…
Browsing: Richmond History
Richmond used to be a city absolutely full of springs. There were springs on Capitol Square, springs at Chimborazo, Forest Hill, and Byrd Parks. In 1872, a man named W.G. Taylor…
One day in early 1975, an employee at the Life Sciences Products Company in Hopewell began trembling uncontrollably. The shaking didn’t stop. Other workers at the same chemical company previously…
The first female news photographer in Richmond launched her career in the 1890s. Though criticized for working in a male-dominated profession – and criticized by many for working at all –…
One hundred years after Richmond’s founding, two Virginia doctors organized the first medical school here. They selected Richmond because of its large population of African Americans, both enslaved and free. At…
In 1842, a year before the publication of his book, A Christmas Carol, the world-famous British author Charles Dickens came to Richmond during an American tour. For his 3-day visit, he…
In the thirty-seven years that “Buffalo” Bill Cody ran his world-famous Wild West Show, he brought it to Richmond nine times from 1888 through 1913. These visits from the former Pony…
A little Halloween history from Shockoe Slip!
One of the deadliest diseases in human history has been known by many names: phthisis, tabes, schachepheth, consumption, and white death. A highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs, the diseases…
On June 19, 1972, a weak Category One hurricane hit the gulf coast of Florida. By the time it reached Virginia a few days later, Hurricane Agnes was just a…
Through the 1980s, Richmond was home to a thriving punk music scene. In general, East Coast punk bands toured from New York to the Carolinas, getting regular gigs. Situated on…
Though tobacco is widely credited as Richmond’s founding industry, a second and lesser-known industry proved to be just as important to the city’s development and success. The first flour milling…