Category Archives: W. Cary Street

Eliza Jane and 811 W. Cary

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I am sorry to say that I just heard that “Granny”, the woman who inspired the “Eliza Jane RVA” blog, passed away earlier today. I enjoyed relating “The Lady in the Lavender Hat”. Here’s “Laughter & Freedom”, in her honor:

Granny’s family lived at 811 W. Cary Street. In those days Oregon Hill continued into that area, before the Downtown Expressway sliced through it’s edge, and before Virginia Commonwealth University put up a parking deck at Cary and Laurel. The house was just a few doors down from Paragon Pharmacy, where Granny and her friends would roller skate out front due to it having the only concrete. The rest of the sidewalks in the neighborhood were red brick. The family’s house had two sets of steps on the front: one set went up to the porch and front door, the other set went down to the family grocery store where Granny would steal penny candy throughout the day.

Backyard at 811 W. Cary St., Oregon Hill

The house was attached on the right side to another home and the two families were friendly. Granny says she rarely got from one place to another in the usual fashion, much to her mother’s (Lena’s) chagrin: To visit her neighbors, Granny would simply climb over the railing dividing their porches.


Sisters Frances and Claryce (“Ikey”), eldest two of the four siblings

Eventually the family moved around the corner to Randolph Street. On the left side of the home there was a low building with a metal roof. Instead of going downstairs and out the front door, Granny would jump from her second story bedroom window onto the metal roof next door, then jump once more to the ground to run off and go play. She still describes this act with a far away look in her eyes and laughter in her voice.


811 W. Cary Street (with Harvey Hardware in the background) Photo courtesy of Charles Allen Sugg

Author’s note:

The two middle homes pictured here – the first of which is 811 W. Cary St. – were torn down just a short time before I arrived to take a picture for my Granny. I was devastated. She had given me the address in her distinctive “Old Richmond” accent: “Eight Eleh’m West Curry Street” (811 W. Cary Street). Fortunately, Charles Allen Sugg had photographed it in 2008 and came to my rescue. A copy of this photo now sits framed in my Granny’s home.

Dinamo Dinner Menu

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From their FaceBook page:

dinamo dinner menu
may 2, 2016
> matzoh ball soup 5.
> chilled potato & ramp soup 6.
> fish soup 7.
> crostini w/ chopped liver 8.
> crostini w/ cured salmon 8.*
> crostini w/ smoked whitefish salad 10.
> hearts of palm & chickpea w/ flatbread 10.
> crostini w/ fava puree 15.
> red pizza 11.
> white pizza 12.
> add topping $1: sausage, mushroom, onion, anchovy, olive
> white pizza w/ ramps 16.
> egg in tuna sauce 3.
> mixed green salad 6.
> lentil salad 7.
> caponata 8.
> farro w/ spring vegetables 10.
> beet & fennel salad 12. w/ feta 13.
> arugula & green bean salad w/ egg 13.
> sauteed maitake 15.
> roasted asparagus 15.
> roasted red peppers w/ bufala mozzarella 15. w/ anchovy 16.
> squid w/ chard 14.
> mussels – white or red 13.
> clams w/ arugula 15.
> soft shell crab 15.
> seafood salad 17.
> tagliatelle w/ eggplant 17.
> ricotta gnocchi bolognese 18.
> tagliatelle w/ ramp pesto 18.
> mussels – white or red w/ squid ink fettuccine 23.
> calamari & shrimp w/ squid ink fettuccine 24.
> broccoletti & provolone sausage w/ polenta & beans 17.
> ramp & pork sausage w/ polenta & beans 18.
> rockfish or whole branzino w/ mixed greens 24.
> t bone w/ arugula salad 32.*
> soft shell crab entree 32.

GRC Update Update

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Paraphrased from neighbors who were able to attend yesterday’s meeting about the update to the Gladding Residential Center at Laurel and W Main:

Meeting with VCU yesterday and these facts came up- the new high rise first year housing building will be 12 stories tall, taller than both the Altria Theatre and the VCU School of Engineering.
VCU has posted on their web page drawings of the proposed dorm here:
http://www.housing.vcu.edu/grc-project/
Meeting attendees expressed concerns about how the sunlight in Monroe Park will be affected during certain times of year.
As of now, the private company leasing the property and building/managing the dorm WILL be responsible for taxes to the city but that issue still needs to be followed.
Nothing official yet but VCU is looking at disallowing the first year students living in the center from having cars as of the 2017 academic year.
To many peoples’ relief, the historic Branch Bath building will be retained and incorporated into the new building design.
There are concerns about the future of the rest of the lot. Residents do not want just a surface parking lot at this location or, on the other end of the scale, a building over four or five stories. It is important for the University to respect the scale of the adjacent Oregon Hill Historic District.
It’s important that VCU reiterate and hold previous promises that it will not expand into the south side of Cary Street or any further into the Oregon Hill Historic District.

Swine Skins Set Up For Race

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Local vendor Swine Skins has acquired a permit for setting up temporarily in a parking lot near the 800 block of Cary Street. Proprietor Marty is looking forward to being there for the next ten days, giving UCI Bicycle Race fans the chance to try his version of pork skin rinds, made with peanut oil. He has already been selling them at the Byrd House Market this summer and now he is ready for international exposure.
Nearby, as mentioned before, Cary Street restaurant Dinamo is working with local Ardent Craft Ales and international bicycle company Rapha to throw what is essentially a party during the upcoming UCI Bicycle Race.