For “Throwback Thursday”, can anyone give more info on this postcard/photo? It was supposedly taken in Oregon Hill and this copy is from VCU’s Digital Collection.
“House of Happiness”
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Category Archives: history
1990 Idlewood Demolition
Ana Anderson took these photos of the three antebellum houses being knocked down in 1990 on the south side of 900 block of Idlewood. You can still see in the background of the photos the houses on Linden Street (where the Grace Arents Community Garden and Byrd House Market are now) that were demolished circa 2000.
Symbolism and Monument Styles Walking Tour of Hollywood Cemetery Today
There is a Symbolism and Monument Styles Walking Tour of Hollywood Cemetery today from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Learn to interpret the spiritual, occupational, vegetal and fraternal signs and symbols found on headstones and ironworks. Discover the historical origins of monument styles including cradle stones, pyramids, pier stones, mausoleums and reliquaries. Meet at the entrance at Cherry and Albemarle streets.
$15 per person
$5 for Valentine Members
Walk-ups welcome.
Cash or check
On-street parking.
– See more at the Valentine’s event page.
Fun fact: The office at Hollywood Cemetery was first built as a gate house, designed to look like the ruins of a stone tower. It cost just over $2,000 to construct.
Railroad in The Penitentiary Basin
The Penitentiary Basin was dammed at the beginning of the 19th century, between Oregon Hill and Gambles Hill and below the Va. State Penitentiary. It served as an important turning basin for canal boats traveling the James River and Kanawha Canal. Canal boats offloaded supplies, and there was a canal boat building business in the Basin. The 1876 Beers Atlas shows the Basin below Oregon Hill at a time when canal boat traffic was being replaced by the more versatile railroads. In March 1880 the James River and Kanawha Company conveyed all of the canal property to the Richmond Alleghany Railroad, and the Penitentiary Basin soon was filled in and became a busy rail yard with turntable and machine shop. The 1889 Baist Atlas shows the remarkable transition from the previous decade as the extensive railroad infrastructure replaced the canal boat traffic. The water from the James River and Kanawha Canal continued to power the waterwheels at Tredegar Iron Works well into the 20th century. The attached photograph shows a steam engine beside the canal filling up with water from the tower located at the former Penitentiary Basin. Pratt’s Castle on Gambles Hill can be seen directly above the water tower. The former Penitentiary Basin is now owned by NewMarket Corporation, and it is hoped that they will be respectful of the rich history of this site.
Photo credits:
Canal/Railroad photo, Library of Virginia;
Baist Atlas, 1889, VCU Libraries;
Penitentiary Basin, Beers Atlas, 1876, Library of Congress
Murals Past
Spring Street neighbor Charles Sugg supplied this photo from the early 1980’s. It’s of folks finishing up a mural of corn on the Cornucopia CO-OP, which existed at the corner of S.Pine and Idlewood. In the photo, left-to-right, is Bob Haddow, the late Jim Brunot and Charles Poole.
(This is the site of a new mural as part of the 2015 Richmond Mural Project).
Guerrilla Warfare During The Civil War Event On Thursday
The Tredegar Society, “an association of young professionals who come together to promote and further the goals of the American Civil War Museum”, is presenting an event on Thursday called “Guerrilla Warfare During The Civil War”.
From the FaceBook event page:
Join us for a discussion with Dr. Barton Myers of Washington & Lee University, highlighting the role guerrilla warfare played during the Civil War. The $10 ticket includes beer/wine and light snacks during the reception from 6:00pm to 6:45pm. The talk will begin at 6:45.
Pratt’s Castle
Quite visible from Oregon Hill was one of the most celebrated buildings of Richmond, known as Pratt’s Castle (Folly or Cottage). This building with crenelated towers was constructed on Gamble’s Hill above the Penitentiary Basin by a master of the daguerreotype, William Pratt. An article in the Daily Dispatch from February 1853 records that the unusual edifice was under construction: “[W]e observed the new and unique cottage of Mr. Pratt, the Daguerrean, looking up in skeleton grandeur … The architect has, even in its chrysalis state, imparted to this building an imposing aspect.” This reporter also notes that two “spacious and comfortable” canal boats were being built in the Penitentiary Basin below Gamble’s Hill.
A later article in the Times Dispatch from May 1904 details the rich contents of the castle, lately owned by Samuel Cornick and his wife Hennie, the daughter of Mayor Joseph Mayo. All of the extensive art work, silver, china and diamonds were being sold, including, “25 tons of coal, stores of provisions sufficient to withstand a siege of famine …”
An advertisement for the sale of the castle in 1906 highlights the “cathedral glass” in the hall and parlor. This cathedral glass is notable in the 1865 photograph (detail) of Pratt’s Castle taken by Matthew Brady, found in the National Archives.
In 1958, Ethyl Corporation demolished Pratt’s Castle, one of Richmond’s most distinctive buildings, over the strong objections of Richmond’s preservationists. Around 1983, Ethyl Corp. traded Brown’s Island on the flood plane for the city’s prominent Gamble’s Hill Park with spectacular river views.
Photo credits:
Daily Dispatch, February 4, 1853, Library of Congress
Times Dispatch, July 1, 1906, Library of Congress
Pratt’s Castle, by Matthew Brady, National Archives
Pratt’s Castle, by Matthew Brady (detail), National Archives
Pratt advertisement, February 6, 1854, Daily Dispatch, Library of Congress
Pratt’s Castle, 1905 Sanborn map, Library of Congress
1889 Baist Atlas
Like the more widely known early 20th century Sanborn Insurance maps, the 1889 Baist Atlas covers the entire City of Richmond in great detail, identifying frame structures in yellow, and brick buildings in red. The map above covers a portion of the Oregon Hill neighborhood south of Spring Street. This area is still referred to as “Belvidere” on the map because it was largely subdivided from the original Belvidere estate. In 1889 few houses south of Spring Street and west of Belvidere Street were made of brick, other than the Parsons House (identified as the Spring St. Home), and the row of brick houses on the 600 block of Holly Street. All of the vibrant Oregon Hill neighborhood east of Belvidere Street has been demolished, including the row of brick houses on Green Street shown on this map that were built by the infamous Ben Green.
The 1889 Baist Atlas is available for free download from the VCU Libraries digital archives:
http://dig.library.vcu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/bai/id/27
Sanborn Insurance Map
The Sanborn insurance maps are a wonderful resource for researching buildings in Oregon Hill and the City of Richmond. The Sanborn maps were very detailed, showing frame buildings in yellow, brick buildings in red, and stone buildings in blue, with notations of the number of stories and building additions. For example in the detail above we see that the Laurel Street Methodist Church, at the corner of Laurel and Albemarle Streets, was made of brick 28 feet in height to the eaves, had a basement and gas lighting. The Sanborn maps were revised from 1905 through 1925 and the 1905 version is available for free on the Library of Congress web site: http://www.loc.gov/
Photo credit: Library of Congress
The Old Pulley System
As St. Andrew’s School goes under extensive renovations, re-discoveries are made. Here is a photo of the original pulley system for the dumb-waiter, courtesy of the St. Andrew’s School FaceBook page:
