Category Archives: history

Skipping April Fools Day This Year

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While we have had some fun for past years’ April Fools Days, I am skipping this year. Its not the first time I have skipped, but this year in particular my heart is just not in it. For one thing, I am not sure if I could come up with anything as outrageous as what is really happening right now-

Venture Richmond is getting ready to alter and diminish one of Richmond’s most historic features, the James River and Kanawah Canal, designed and presided over by George Washington, for an unneeded amphitheater. Besides putting future restoration at risk, ‘Vulture Richmond’ is doing this by breaking promises to go through the Section 106 review process. This is after a historic wall was illegally demolished on property leased to Venture Richmond.

Board members of Venture Richmond are also behind the Monroe Park Conservancy, a mysterious and dastardly plan to privatize Monroe Park (for VCU). The City government is backing this plot, saying it does not have enough money to renovate and maintain the City’s oldest public park as a public park, despite dedicating millions of dollars to establishing a training field for a professional football team, that is owned by a millionaire. The local anarchists are doing a better job of defending the public interest than City government.

‘Vulture Richmond” is also behind an even bigger plot to force the construction of a minor league baseball stadium in historic Shockoe Bottom neighborhood, despite passionate, now international, public protest. This is the third or fourth time that this scheme has been tried, and one of the principles behind it is a developer who was convicted and went to jail for his part in a City Council bribery scheme. Again, it looks like promised historic preservation oversight is being finessed despite public promises.

The mainstream media has sometimes joined the fun of reporting April Fools Day stories. Maybe this year they can try reporting on the reality of these truly outrageous happenings.

Before Its Too Late…Today

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From richmondarchaeology.webs.com:

The current proposal to construct a baseball stadium in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom has given rise to public concern over the cultural and historical resources in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom district. In response to this public debate, history enthusiasts and preservationists, planners, students, scholars, educators, and members of the general public are invited to a one-day educational symposium on March 29th, 10:15 am to 4:00 pm at the Richmond Public Library in support of an archaeology of Shockoe Bottom… “Before It’s Too Late”.

The symposium brings together experts and scholars on Richmond’s archaeology, history, and historic preservation. The symposium will also discuss how the public can become better stewards of Richmond’s vast cultural and historical resources. Presentations will explore the archaeological review process with an emphasis upon Federal Section 106.

In regard to the 106, I hope discussion will include the Kanawha Canal. Last I heard, seats were filling up up quick.

“Imminent Destruction of George Washington’s Historic Canal”

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From ‘City watchdog’ C.Wayne Taylor:

To: News Media

1. “Tredegar Green” is the The City of Richmond Riverfront Plan designation for the land just west of Tredegar Iron Works.

2. George Washington’s historic canal runs across the center of Tredegar Green.

3. Venture Richmond is preparing to destroy George Washington’s historic canal.

4. Venture Richmond has a grading plan pending before the city Planning Commission.

5. Venture Richmond revised its plan to dodge Department of Historic Resources review.

6. The revised plan was submitted to the city of Richmond Friday.

7. The revised plan was forwarded to the planning commission after 5pm Friday.

8. The planning commission meets on Monday at 1pm to consider the plan.

9. The public has not been officially notified of the revised plan.

While Venture Richmond may have the legal right to destroy George Washington’s historic canal, such action is contrary to the purposes of Venture Richmond. Venture Richmond is a nonprofit corporation established for the good of downtown Richmond.

Venture Richmond receives substantial financial support from the city of Richmond. Mayor Jones is the President of Venture Richmond. His administration submitted the application to the planning commission to destroy the canal.

GRADING PLAN

Idlewood Avenue History

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Neighbor Todd Woodson continues to help with the Idlewood traffic project.

He recently sent this to the committee members:

While we are awaiting design updates from our friends at Kimley – Horn, I thought i’d share some of the background of the area we are working to improve. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, i’ll simply start with a grid map from the 1924 Sanborn map (thanks, C Pool!). As you can see, the downtown expressway destroyed the northern portion of grid seen here. Harrison and Idlewood (also known as Beverly street) remain as they were laid out. The pink highlighter is a rough approximation of the exit ramp and Grayland redux surrounded by Harrison and Idlewood as they exist today. The second shot is a 1976 photograph of the downtown expressway right before it opened (looking east from where the toll booths would be today). This amenity truly fractured the Randolph and Oregon Hill neighborhoods and splintered our communities. We lost a total of 700 residences and experienced 150 business relocations from the expressway…

(RRHA owns the pie shaped parcel bordered by Harrison, Idlewood and Grayland.)

map of roundabout area
safe_image

Riverfront Development ‘Community Conversation’ Tuesday

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Richmond, VA and Its Vicinity engraving
1863

The Valentine Richmond History Center collaborates with Richmond Magazine, TMI Consulting Inc. and the Future of Richmond’s Past to present this year’s Community Conversations series, conceived to engage the community in a dialogue about the region’s past and how that past can positively shape our collective future. Featured are a series of monthly discussions about various Richmond localities, from Shockoe Bottom to the Boulevard. A Richmond Magazine moderator will lead each discussion, illuminating historical and current-day perspectives that shape our understanding and experience of each location.

Riverfront Development with Jack Cooksey
Tuesday, March 4, 6-8 pm
F.W. Sullivan’s Canal Bar & Grill (Plaza Room), 1001 Haxall Point

Va. War Memorial Honors African-American Veterans Tonight

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The Virginia War Memorial will be holding a program this evening to commemorate Black History Month and honor the contributions of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Services. It will include a reception and presentation of the motion picture, Veterans of Color. It will include a tribute to the late Admiral Gravely, a Richmond native and the first African American to command a U.S. Navy ship. For more information, please click here to see a press release by the Virginia War Memorial.

Virginia Emancipation Proclamation Monument For Brown’s Island

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This past Friday, local architect Burt Pinnock gave a public talk at the University of Richmond entitled “Race In Architecture: Can Memorialization and Development Coexist?”.

Although most of the presentation was philosophical in nature with the subtext of the raging Shockoe Bottom controversy, Mr. Pinnock did generously show some slides of VERY PRELIMINARY ideas for the proposed Virginia Emancipation Proclamation and Freedom Monument for Browns Island. These visuals showed a raised structure that would offer enclosed meditative space with slats that would allow light to come in.

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It will be interesting to see if this proposal, or the controversial ‘Tredegar Green’ amphitheater proposal, will be allowed for discussion at tonight’s Riverfront Plan forum. It’s worth noting that the Proclamation Monument proposal has not been without some controversy, and its worth remembering that Browns Island has been brought up as an alternative to the Kanawha Canal site for the proposed amphitheater.

J.E.B. Stuart Ceremony Will Include Gunfire

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From Hollywood Cemetery management:

We are having a ceremony on 2/8/2014 for JEB Stuart at Noon and believe there will be rifle volley and/or cannon fire. We wanted to let you know so the neighborhood can be notified of the plans.

From Wikipedia entry on JEB Stuart:

Although he enjoyed the civil engineering curriculum at the academy (West Point) and did well in mathematics, his poor drawing skills hampered his engineering studies, and he finished 29th in that discipline. A Stuart family tradition says he deliberately degraded his academic performance in his final year to avoid service in the elite, but dull, Corps of Engineers.

Holmberg on Michael Fleming Folland

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Excerpt from Holmberg piece on WTVR, Channel 6:

We reached on Facebook and found his Richmond nephew – and some of the story behind the gravestone. As it turns out, Folland has several living relatives – but no descendants.
And, as it turns out, our hero was a tough guy from an Oregon Hill, a historically white, blue-collar neighborhood known for Irish immigrants, firefighters, cops, street fighters and virtually no homicides despite its rough-and-tumble reputation.
Folland came from a family largely made up of steelworkers.
“He was a little hard-headed, troublemaking,” recalled his nephew, Lloyd “Chip” Folland of Chesterfield. “Spent some time in a juvenile detention center up in Northern Virginia. They actually have a plaque in the cafeteria with his face on it, saying you CAN become something.”

Medal of Honor winner

Company D, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade. During a firefight on that day, in Long Khanh Province, Republic of Vietnam, Folland smothered the blast of an enemy-thrown hand grenade with his body, sacrificing his life to protect those around him.