This abandoned bulletin board at the bottom of Oregon Hill Parkway receive some attention this morning as someone added a yarn lattice to it. This artist was different from the one who had originally made and put the bulletin board in place.
Thanks to Tom Elliott who located this 1891 photo of Belle Isle. An enlargement of the background shows Oregon Hill in 1891. Most of the buildings on the 700 blocks of Laurel and Pine were demolished by Ethyl Corporation (now NewMarket). One of the few buildings shown that is still standing is the house now at 810 Riverside Park that was moved from the end of Laurel Street where it is pictured in this photo.
With the old 816 Riverside Park gone, for better and worse, a new house rises.
It’s been a long time coming, but 816 Riverside Park is coming up for auction.
A “solar oven picnic” is scheduled for this Sunday morning and early afternoon in Riverside Park.
From Solar Cookers International:
Most solar cookers work on basic principles: sunlight is converted to heat energy that is retained for cooking. Sunlight is the “fuel.” A solar cooker needs an outdoor spot that is sunny for several hours and protected from strong wind, and where food will be safe.
From FaceBook event page:
Cook and share food using only solar ovens at the top of the grassy slope in Oregon Hill’s Riverside Park. If it rains or it is too overcast the event will be postponed.
Seeing as the forecast is partly cloudy, this may have a 50% chance of happening, but as with the recent neighborhood yard sale, this event is an experiment that will hopefully improve with re-iteration.
While he has certainly generously contributed before, neighbor Charles Pool has agreed to help focus on Oregon Hill history with the help of old photographs, maps, and other material every Thursday on a regular basis (aka “Throwback Thursday”). Here is a first post under this arrangement:
In 1924, the city expanded Oregon Hill’s Riverside Park between the gazebo and Hollywood Cemetery. Prominent businessman Moses Nunnally saved four houses from demolition by moving them from the land newly condemned by the city for the park to 810-816 Riverside Park. Ethyl Corporation later demolished 812 Riverside Park and the City of Richmond demolished 816 Riverside Park, while 810 Riverside Park and 814 Riverside Park have survived. This 1956 photograph in the collection of the Richmond History Center (formerly known as the Valentine Museum) shows the four houses 32 years after they were moved.
Photo credit: 1956, Richmond History Center