It looks like this movie is now available. I understand it is streamable on Amazon. Many of us today live in homes built by and for the workers at Tredegar…
“How The Welsh Changed The World”
Reply
Category Archives: history
Williams Childhood Photo
This is a great childhood photo, taken in Oregon Hill, of the recently deceased Ray Williams, Denny Williams, Bonnie Williams (who was later adopted into the Harris Family) and another unidentified relative. Shared with permission from surviving niece, Tracy Burkhalter Finnie.
Robert Pleasants
This is a copy of the constitution of the Virginia Abolition Society that is on microfiche at the Library of Virginia. Robert Pleasants, a prominent Quaker is shown as the president. His story is remarkable, and so is part of his legacy, Gravel Hill in Henrico.
The connection with Oregon Hill is that the mother of John Miller was freed from slavery by actions of Robert Pleasants. John Miller’s house in Oregon Hill is the only known surviving house in Richmond that was built, owned and occupied by free blacks before and during the Civil War. (Editor’s note: this is a correction from an earlier version of this post, which erroneously suggested that Robert Pleasants lived in Oregon Hill.)
The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association successfully petitioned the Richmond City Council in 2003 to name Pleasants Park at 401 South Laurel Street for Robert Pleasants.
Of course, this is not to say that Oregon Hill has been a place of racial harmony either. There is an uglier past.
Foundry Series: Politics and the Supreme Court This Thursday
The American Civil War Museum and the John Marshall Foundation are holding an event at Historic Tredegar this Thursday at 6 pm.
Even during the Civil War era, political parties attempted to influence the makeup of the Supreme Court to further political agendas. Uncover how Lincoln and the Republicans reshaped the Court to advance the twin causes of liberty and union.
Featuring:
Dr. Timothy Huebner, Rhodes College, Memphis
Moderated by Dr. Henry L. Chambers, University of Richmond School of LawCost:
$10; $8 for Members
Lew’s Laundry
This ‘Throwback Thursday’, check out this eBay sale for an early 1900`s Chinese hand laundry advertising blotter for W. Lew’s, which was on Beverley Street. The seller gave me permission to post this photograph:
And for those who wonder where Beverely Street was, it was between Cumberland and Albemarle. Here is a screenshot from the Baist Atlas of the City of Richmond, published in 1889, available from VCU Libraries’ Digital Collections.
RVA Archeology: Video On Penitentiary Burials
RVA Archeology has released a new video on YouTube and elsewhere about burials at the old Virginia State Penitentiary, close to Oregon Hill.
The Virginia State Penitentiary was a notorious Richmond prison — where many prisoners died. This video introduces the human skeletons that were found there, and who they represent. If this story interests you, please take our survey about how we should proceed next to investigate and memorialize the site: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RZMCHK8
A few quick notes-
Some of these burials are probably related to the building of the James River and Kanawha Canal, a history that the neighborhood has tried to bring forward.
If you are looking for a good history of the old prison, you may to want to pick up Dale Brumfield’s book Virginia State Penitentiary: A Notorious History, which was released just last year.
Of course, Oregon Hill’s history has often intertwined with the Penitentiary’s, but a lot of history, including these burials, is still coming to light.
Pine Street Baptist Church Is Selling 2019 Historic Oregon Hill Calendars
Pine Street Baptist Church is selling 2019 Historic Oregon Hill Calendars. The calendar is composed of black and white photos from years gone by in the Oregon Hill community. The calendars are $15 and may be purchased at the church. Money raised will be used for Pine Street’s ongoing ministries. Call 644-0339 for more information. The calendars make a great Christmas gift.
Bowties At Benny’s
Here’s a ‘Throwback Thursday’ for ya…The Bowties appearing at Benny’s…
From Throttle Magazine, May, 1985–
Keith MacPhee has left the Bowties, so that band is in the market for a bass player to join forces with Lloyd Huckstep, 800 and Earl Smith and Michael Pritchard. Together since November 1979, the Bowties are one of Richmond’s most enduring groups.
Oregon Hill Post Office Established September 20, 1869 (In Pennsylvania)
Sort of a different “Throwback Thursday” history post, that looks at another community called Oregon Hill:
This may also be the Pennsylvania locale that inspired Ted Toot’s 45.
Tredegar Circa World War I
Stealing from Dogtown Dish’s FaceBook feed for this ‘Throwback Thursday’ post:
Tredegar Ironworks During World War I, Richmond, VA. Date: Circa 1914-1918. “An interior photograph of the machine shop at the Tredegar ironworks shows production taking place during World War I. Though by late in the nineteenth century Tredegar had lost its position as one of the premier southern industrial enterprises, the company survived as a manufacturing entity into the 1980s.” Credit: Encyclopedia Virginia