Richmond, Virginia This article is about the city of Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. For information on Richmond County, which is 53 miles (85 km) away and unrelated to the city, please see Richmond County, Virginia. <td colspan="2" align="center" style="width:100%; font-size: 1.25em; white-space: nowrap;">City of Richmond, Virginia</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 0.7em 0.8em 0.7em 0.8em;;"> </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td class="maptable" colspan="2" align="center" style="padding: 0.4em 0 0.4em 0;"> Flag Seal </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <td colspan="2" align="center">Nickname: River City, Cap City, RVA</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <td colspan="2" align="center">Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars)</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"> Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedbottomrow"> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: smaller; padding-bottom: 0.7em;">Coordinates: 37°31′58.8″N 77°28′1.2″W / 37.533, -77.467</th> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <th>Country <th class="adr">United States </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th>State <th class="adr">Virginia </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td colspan="2">Government </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Mayor <td>L. Douglas Wilder (I) </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td colspan="2">Area </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th>  - City </th> <td>62.5 sq mi (162.0 km²)</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Land</th> <td>60.1 sq mi (155.6' km²)</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Water</th> <td>2.5 sq mi (6.4 km²)</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td>Elevation </td> <td>166.45 ft (45.7 m)</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td colspan="2">Population (2007)</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - City</th> <td>200,123 (estimate)</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Density</th> <td>3,211.1/sq mi (1,239.8/km²)</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Urban</th> <td>1,045,250</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Metro</th> <td>1,194,008</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <th>Time zone</th> <td>EST (UTC-5) </tr> <tr class="mergedbottomrow"> <th style="white-space: nowrap;"> - Summer (DST)</th> <td>EDT (UTC-4)</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th>Area code(s)</th> <td>804</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <th>FIPS code</th> <td>51-67000[1]</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th>GNIS feature ID</th> <td>1499957[2]</td> </tr>

Website: http://www.ci.richmond.va.us

Richmond (IPA: /ˈrɪtʃmənd/) is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. Like all Virginia municipalities incorporated as cities, it is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Greater Richmond area. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield Counties, the city is located at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64 in central Virginia. As of 2006, the city's estimated population is 192,913, with a metropolitan area population of 1.2 million, making the Richmond Metropolitan Area the third largest metropolitan area in Virginia after Washington-Baltimore and Hampton Roads.

The site of Richmond, at the fall line of the James River in the Piedmont region of Virginia, was briefly settled by English settlers from Jamestown in 1607, near the site of a significant native settlement. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737. It became the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780. During the Revolutionary War period, several notable events occurred in the city, including Patrick Henry's, "Give me liberty or give me death," speech in 1775 at St. John's Church, and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1779; the latter of which was written by Thomas Jefferson in the city. During the American Civil War, Richmond served as the capital of the Confederate States of America, and many important civil war landmarks remain in the city today, including the Virginia State Capitol and the White House of the Confederacy, among others.

Richmond's economy is primarily driven by law, finance, and government with several notable legal and banking firms, as well as federal, state, and local governmental agencies, located in the downtown area. The Richmond area was ranked 3rd best city for business by MarketWatch in 2007. Richmond is one of twelve cities in the United States to be home to a Federal Reserve Bank. There are also nine Fortune 500, and thirteen Fortune 1000 companies, in the city. Richmond is also home to several smaller companies which contribute to its small town, friendly, southern atmosphere.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Richmond, Virginia

The Christopher Newport Cross monument on the canal, commemorating the cross erected at the current site of Richmond by an English exploration party that claimed the site and the river for King James in 1607. The party was led by Capt. Christopher Newport and Capt. John Smith.

Later the same year, Captain Smith bought a tract of land on the east bank of the river from the Indians, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the initial settlement. He named this tract, "Nonesuch," and attempted to establish a small garrison, which was later abandoned due to ongoing attacks by the Indians. In 1645, Fort Charles was erected at the falls of the James – the highest navigable point of the James River – as a frontier defense. New settlers moved in, and the community grew into a bustling trading post for furs, hides, and tobacco.^[4][5]

In 1673, William Byrd I was granted lands on the James River that included the area around Falls that would become Richmond and already included small settlements. Byrd was a well-connected Indian trader in the area and established a fort on the site. William Byrd II inherited his father's land in 1704, and in 1737 founded the town of Richmond at the Falls of the James and commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid. Byrd named the city Richmond after the town of Richmond in England (a suburb of London) because the view of the James River was strikingly similar to the view of the River Thames from Richmond, England, where he had spent time during his youth. The settlement was laid out in April, 1737, and was incorporated as a town in 1742.^[4][5]

[edit] American Revolutionary War

Patrick Henry delivering his, "Liberty or Death," speech at St. John's Church in Richmond, helping to ignite the American Revolution.

In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his famous, "Give me Liberty or Give me Death," speech in St. John's Church in Richmond that was crucial for deciding Virginia's (then the largest of the 13 colonies) participation in the First Continental Congress and setting the course for revolution and independence. Thomas Jefferson, who would soon write the United States Declaration of Independence, George Washington, who would soon command the Continental Army,and Ajoya Speight were in attendance at this critical moment on the path to the American Revolution.^[6]

On April 18, 1780, as Virginia’s population moved further west, the state capital was moved from the colonial capital of Williamsburg to Richmond, to provide a more centralized location, as well as to isolate the capital from British attack.^[7] In 1781, under the command of Benedict Arnold, Richmond was burned by British troops causing Governor Thomas Jefferson to flee the city. Yet Richmond shortly recovered and, by 1782, Richmond was once again a thriving city.^[8]

In 1786, one of the most important and influential passages of legislation in American history was passed at the temporary state capital in Richmond, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Written by Thomas Jefferson and sponsored by James Madison, the statute was the basis for the separation of church and state, and led to freedom of religion for all Americans as protected in the religion clause in the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. Its importance is recognized annually by the President of The United States, with January 16 established as National Religious Freedom Day.^[9]

The Virginia Capitol Building, designed by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau.

The Virginia State Capitol building, designed by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau, was completed in 1788. It is the second-oldest US statehouse in continuous use (Maryland's is the oldest) and was the first US government building built in the neo-classical Roman style of architecture, setting the trend for other state houses and the federal government buildings (including the White House and The Capitol) in Washington, DC. The state capitol is one of thirteen in the United States without a dome and underwent a complete renovation which was completed in May 2007.^[10]

[edit] Early Nineteenth Century

After the Revolutionary War, Richmond emerged an important industrial center; it also became a crossroads of transportation and commerce, much of this tied to its role as a major hub in the Transatlantic slave trade. George Washington proposed and received the support of the Virginia legislature for the establishment of the James River and Kanawha Canal, the first canal system to be established in the U.S. The canal allowed goods and services coming up the James River to be navigated around the falls at Richmond and connect Richmond and the eastern part of Virginia with the west. As a result, Richmond became home to some of the largest manufacturing facilities in the country, including iron works and flour mills, the largest facilities of their kind in the south. Canal traffic peaked in the 1860s and slowly gave way to railroads, allowing Richmond to become a major railroad crossroads, eventually including the site of the world's first triple railroad crossing.^[11] The Canal officially ceased operations in the 1880s, although portions of the canal have been preserved and rebuilt by 1998–1999, spurring tourism and economic development along the old canal route in downtown Richmond.^[12]

Besides transportation and industry, antebellum Richmond was also the center of regional communications, with several newspapers and book publishers, including John Warrock, helping shape public opinion and further the education of the populace.

The resistance to the slave trade was growing by the mid-nineteenth century; in one famous case in 1848, Henry “Box” Brown made history by having himself nailed into a small box and shipped from Richmond to abolitionists in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, escaping slavery.^[13]

[edit] Civil War and Reconstruction

Shells of the buildings of Richmond, silhouetted against a dark sky after the destruction by Confederates fleeing advancing Union forces, 1865.

Main article: Richmond in the Civil War

At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the strategic location of the Tredegar Iron Works was one of the primary factors in the decision to make Richmond the Capital of the Confederacy.^[14] From this arsenal came the 723 tons of armor plating that covered the CSS Virginia, the world’s first ironclad used in war, as well as much of the Confederates' heavy ordnance machinery.^[15] In February, 1861, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama, the first Confederate capital. In the early morning of April 12, 1861, the Confederate army fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Civil War had begun. On April 17, 1861, Virginia seceded from the United States and joined the Confederate States, and soon thereafter the Confederate government moved its capital to Richmond.^[16] The Confederate Congress shared quarters with the Virginia General Assembly in the Virginia State Capitol, and the Confederacy's executive mansion, the "White House of the Confederacy", was two blocks away in the upscale Court End neighborhood.

The Seven Days Battles, in which Union General McClellan threatened Richmond and came very near but ultimately failed to take the city, followed in late June and early July of 1862. Three years later on April 3, 1865, Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army captured Richmond, and the state capital was then relocated to Danville. Six days later, Robert E. Lee's retreating Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, symbolically ending the war. On April 2, 1865, about 25% of the city's buildings were destroyed in a fire set by retreating Confederate soldiers. Union soldiers put out the fires as they entered the city.^[16]

A historic postcard showing electric trolley-powered streetcars in Richmond, Virginia, where Frank J. Sprague successfully demonstrated his new system on the hills in 1888. The intersection shown is at 8th & Broad Streets.

After the Civil War, Richmond entered a phase of recovery and reconstruction. Monument Avenue was laid out in 1887, with a series of monuments at various intersections honoring the city's Confederate heroes, included (east to west) J.E.B. Stuart, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew F. Maury.^[17] Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery is the final resting place of both Stuart and Davis.

Contributing to Richmond's industrial reconstruction was the first successful electrically-powered trolley system in the United States, the Richmond Union Passenger Railway. Designed by electric power pioneer Frank J. Sprague, the trolley system opened its first line in 1888, and electric streetcar lines rapidly spread to other cities.^[18] Sprague's system used an overhead wire and trolley pole to collect current, with electric motors on the car's trucks.^[19]

[edit] Twentieth Century

By the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the city's population had reached 85,050 in 5 square miles (13 km²), making it the most densely populated city in the southern United States.^[20]

In 1903, African-American businesswoman and financier Maggie L. Walker chartered St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, and served as its first president, as well as the first female bank president in the United States. Today, the bank is called the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company, and it is the oldest surviving African-American bank in the U.S. The Governor's School in Richmond City is also dedicated to her name.^[21]

In 1910, the former city of Manchester was consolidated with the city of Richmond, and in 1914, the city annexed the Barton Heights, Ginter Park, and Highland Park areas of Henrico County.^[22]

In May of 1914, Richmond became the headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve Bank. It was selected due to the city's geographic location, its importance as a commercial and financial center, its transportation and communications facilities, as well as Virginia's leading regional role in the banking business. The bank was originally located near the federal courts downtown and moved to a new headquarters building near the Capitol in 1922, and finally to its present location overlooking the James River in 1978.^[23] Richmond's business and industrial development continued throughout the decade, and in 1929, Philip Morris, which began as a British company about 100 years earlier, opened its first US factory in the city. Richmond was chosen because the town's rich tobacco history.^[24]

Richmond entered the broadcasting era in late 1925 when WRVA, originally known as the Edgeworth Tobacco Station and owned by Larus & Brothers, went on the air. The white ballad singers and black gospel quartets that were popular on the radio at the time were often urban and sometimes even professional men. At the time, Richmond was particularly self-conscious with its southern roots, and such music was seen as culturally inferior. WTVR-TV (CBS 6), the first television station in Richmond, was the first television station south of Washington, D.C.^[25]

The Landmark Theater, originally known as The Mosque, adjacent to Monroe Park.

Several performing arts venues were constructed during the 1920s. In 1926, The Mosque (now called the Landmark Theater) was constructed by the Shriners as their Acca Temple Shrine, and since then, many of America's greatest entertainers have appeared on its stage beneath its towering minarets and desert murals.^[26] Loew's Theater was built in 1927, and was described as, "the ultimate in 1920s movie palace fantasy design." It later suffered a decline in popularity as the movie-going population moved to the suburbs, but was restored during the 1980s and renamed as the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts.^[27] In 1928, the Byrd Theater was built by local architect Fred Bishop on Westhampton Avenue (now called Cary Street) in a residential area of the city. To this day, the Byrd remains in operation as one of the last of the great movie palaces of the 1920s and 1930s.^[28]

In his autobiography, "The Moon's A Balloon". Academy award winning actor David Niven described how he was on a trip from New York to Florida in the late 1930s when he decided to spend the night at Richmond's famous Jefferson Hotel, located in downtown Richmond. Niven stated that as he was signing the guest registry at the Jefferson, his eyes snapped open with amazement when he noticed a full sized alligator swimming in a small pool located six feet from the reception desk.^[29] Alligators at The Jefferson would become world famous, and the last alligator living in the marble pools of the Jefferson's Palm Court, named Old Pompey, remained there until he died in 1948.^[30]

Between 1963 and 1965, there was a, "downtown boom," that led to the construction of more than 700 buildings in the city. In 1968, Virginia Commonwealth University was created by the merger of the Medical College of Virginia with the Richmond Professional Institute.^[31] In 1970, Richmond's borders expanded by an additional 27 square miles (69 km²) on the south. After several years of court cases in which Chesterfield County fought annexation, more than 47,000 people who once were Chesterfield County residents found themselves in the city’s perimeters on January 1, 1970.^[32]

Between the 1984 and 1985 seasons, the city completed construction of the Diamond, a new baseball stadium for the Richmond Braves, a AAA baseball team in the Atlanta Braves minor league system. The park opened on April 17, 1985, replacing the old Parker Field, which previously occupied the same site.^[33] Also in 1985, Richmond saw the opening of 6th Street Marketplace, a downtown festival marketplace, which was envisioned as a solution to the downtown areas urban erosion. The project ultimately failed, and the shopping center was closed and demolished in 2004.^[34]

Statue of Arthur Ashe on Monument Avenue.

A multi-million dollar flood wall was completed in 1995, in order to protect the city and the Shockoe Bottom businesses from the rising waters of the James River. After the flood wall was completed, the River District businesses grew rapidly, and today the area is home to much of Richmond's entertainment, dining and nightlife activity.^[35]

In 1996, a reminder of Richmond's Confederate history arose amid controversy involved in placing a statue of African American Richmond native and tennis star Arthur Ashe to the famed series of statues of Confederate heroes of the Civil War on Monument Avenue.^[36] After several months of controversy, the bronze statue of Ashe was finally completed on Monument Avenue facing the opposite direction of the Confederate Heroes on July 3, 1996.^[37]

[edit] Twenty-first century

Richmond entered the twenty-first century in the process of undergoing several redevelopment initiatives. The city completed a $52 million restoration of the James River and Kanawha Canals, as well as the Haxall Canal, in 1999, which included a Canal Walk, designed to attract businesses such as restaurants and nightclubs to the area. The riverfront project has brought the 1.25-mile (2.01 km) corridor back to life, with trendy loft apartments, restaurants, shops and hotels winding along the Canal Walk, along with canal boat cruises and walking tours.^[12] Riverfront development continued in April 2003 with the start of construction of Riverside on the James, a 720,000 square foot (66,890 sq m) residential and office complex near Brown's Island between 10th and 12th Streets downtown. The project, costing $90 million, was completed in July 2005, and is expected to attract even more commercial development to the downtown area.^[38]

On September 19, 2003, Hurricane Isabel's sustained winds of 40–60 mph (64–96 km/h) caused major power outages in the area.

In September 2004, Tropical Storm Gaston swept through the area, bringing with it intense rain, causing severe flooding in the Shockoe Bottom business district, as well as major electrical outages throughout the metropolitan area.^[39]

[edit] Geography and climate

[edit] Geography

Richmond-Petersburg area

See also: Richmond-Petersburg

Richmond is located at 37°32′18.05″N, 77°27′41.42″W (37.538346, -77.461507).^[40] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 62.5 sq mi (162.0 km²). 60.1 sq mi (155.6 km²) of it is land and 2.5 sq mi (6.4 km²) of it (3.96%) is water. The city is located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, at the highest navigable point of the James River. The Piedmont region is categorized by relatively low, rolling hills, and lies between the low, sea level tidewater region and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Significant bodies of water in the region include the James River, the Appomattox River, and the Chickahominy River.

The Richmond-Petersburg Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 43rd largest in the United States, includes the independent cities of Richmond, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and Petersburg, as well as the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, and Prince George.^[41] As of July 1, 2005, the total population of the Richmond—Petersburg MSA is 1,194,008.^[42]

[edit] Cityscape

Richmond is often subdivided into North Side, Southside, East End and West End

See also: Neighborhoods of Richmond, Virginia

Richmond's original street grid, laid out in 1737, included the area between what are now Broad, 17th, and 25th Streets and the James River. Modern Downtown Richmond is located slightly farther west, on the slopes of Shockoe Hill. Nearby neighborhoods include Shockoe Bottom, the historically significant and low-lying area between Shockoe Hill and Church Hill, Jackson Ward, a historic neighborhood rich in African American history which was once called, "The Wall Street of Black America," and Monroe Ward, which contains the Jefferson Hotel. Richmond's East End includes neighborhoods like rapidly gentrifying Church Hill, home to St. John's Church, as well as poorer areas like Fulton, Union Hill, and Fairmont, and public housing projects like Mosby Court, Whitcomb Court, Fairfield Court, and Creighton Court closer to Interstate 64.^[43]

The area between Belvidere Street, Interstate 195, Interstate 95, and the river, which includes Virginia Commonwealth University, is socioeconomically and architecturally diverse. North of Broad Street, the Carver and Newtowne West neighborhoods are demographically similar to neighboring Jackson Ward, with Carver experiencing some gentrification due to its proximity to VCU. The affluent area between the Boulevard, Main Street, Broad Street, and VCU, known as the Fan, is home to Monument Avenue, an outstanding collection of Victorian architecture, and many students. West of the Boulevard is the Museum District, the location of the Virginia Historical Society and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. South of the Downtown Expressway are Byrd Park, Maymont, Hollywood Cemetery, the predominantly black working class Randolph neighborhood, and white working class Oregon Hill. Cary Street between Interstate 195 and the Boulevard is a popular commercial area called Carytown.^[43]

Further to the west is the affluent, suburban West End. There are three major neighborhoods in the West End: Westhampton, Windsor Farms, and Sauer's Gardens. The University of Richmond and the Country Club of Virginia can also be found here.^[43]

The portion of the city south of the James River is known as the Southside. Neighborhoods in the city's Southside area range from affluent and middle class suburban neighborhoods like Westover Hills, Southampton, Stratford Hills, Oxford, Huguenot Hills, Hobby Hill, and Woodland Heights to the impoverished Manchester and Blackwell areas, the Hillside Court housing projects, and the ailing Jefferson Davis Highway commercial corridor. Other Southside neighborhoods include Fawnbrook, Broad Rock, Cherry Gardens, Cullenwood, and Beaufont Hills. Much of Southside developed a suburban character as part of Chesterfield County before being annexed by Richmond, most notably in 1970.^[43]

The other side of the city, the Northside, began to develop at the end of the 19th century when the new streetcar system made it possible for people to live on the outskirts of town and still commute to jobs downtown. Several neighborhoods developed here: Ginter Park, Bellevue, Barton Heights, Highland Park, Azalea and Chamberlayne among others.^[43]

[edit] Climate

Richmond has a humid subtropical climate with moderate changes of seasons. Spring arrives in March with mild days and cool nights, and by late May, the temperature has warmed up considerably to herald warm summer days. Summer temperatures can be unpleasantly hot, often topping 90 °F (32 °C) with high humidity. On average, July is the warmest month of the year, with the maximum average precipitation. Days stay warm to mild until October, and fall is marked by nights once again becoming cooler. Winter is usually mild in Richmond, with the coldest days featuring lows in the mid-upper 20s and highs in the mid 40s. The highest temperature ever recorded was 107 °F (42 °C) in 1918, and the lowest temperature ever recorded was −12 °F (−24.4 °C) in 1940. On average, the coolest month of the year is January.^[44] Snow falls every winter, averaging 12 inches (300 mm) per season.^[45]

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 197,790 people, 84,549 households, and 43,627 families residing in the city. The estimated population for 2006 is 192,913.^[46][47] The population density was 3,292.6 people per square mile (1,271.3/km²). There were 92,282 housing units at an average density of 1,536.2/sq mi (593.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 38.30% White, 57.19% African American, 0.24% Native American, 1.25% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.49% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.57% of the population.

There were 84,549 households out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.1% were married couples living together, 20.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.4% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.8% under the age of 18, 13.1% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 87.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,121, and the median income for a family was $38,348. Males had a median income of $30,874 versus $25,880 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,337. About 17.1% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.9% of those under age 18 and 15.8% of those age 65 or over.

Being home to many institutions of higher education, the Richmond area boasts a college student population of nearly 45,000 (not including the two large community colleges and many technical schools in the area). Many of these students, especially those living in dormitories, are not included in the official population count.

[edit] Economy

[edit] Historic development as a commercial center

Richmond's strategic location on the James River, built on undulating hills at the rocky fall line separating the piedmont and tidewater regions of Virginia provided a natural site for the development of commerce.

The first European explorers came in 1607, from the Virginia Company of London. They discovered a fragrant weed grown by the natives, and tobacco became a lucrative commodity in the area. The trading post developed into a village, and by 1733 a town was laid out by William Byrd II and William Mayo. Its early buildings were clustered around the Farmers' Market, existing today at 17th Street.

Early trade grew rapidly, primarily in the agriculture sector, but also in the slave trade. Slaves were imported to Richmond's Manchester docks from Africa, and were bought and sold at the same market.

To facilitate the transfer of cargo from the flat-bottomed bateaux above the fall line to the ocean-faring ships below, George Washington helped design the James River and Kanawha Canal in the 1700s to bypass Richmond's rapids. The canal was later superseded by rail in the 1800s, and the railroads were laid on the original canal towpaths. In the 1900s highways were constructed in the air over the same area.

Throughout these three centuries and three modes of transportation, downtown has always been a hub, with the Great Turning Basin for boats, the world's only triple crossing of rail lines, and the intersection of two major interstates.

See also: Transportation in Richmond, Virginia

[edit] Industries that defined Richmond

Richmond emerged from the smoldering rubble of the Civil War as an economic powerhouse, with iron front buildings and massive brick factories. Innovations of this era included the world's first cigarette-rolling machine, invented by James Albert Bonsack of Roanoke in 1880/81, and the world's first successful electric street car system.

Freed slaves and their descendants created a thriving African-American business community, led by such influential people as Maggie L. Walker (first woman to charter a bank in the U.S.) and John Mitchell, Jr. The city's historic Jackson Ward became known as the "Wall Street of Black America."

Law and finance have long been driving forces in the economy. Because the city is home to both a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and a Federal Reserve Bank, as well as offices for international firms such as Hunton & Williams, McGuireWoods, Troutman Sanders, CapitalOne, Philip Morris USA, and numerous other banks and brokerages, Richmond was cited as having minimal evidence of being a Global city.^[48]

Since the 1960s Richmond has been a prominent hub for advertising agencies and advertising related businesses, including The Martin Agency. As a result of local advertising agency support, VCU's graduate advertising school (VCU BrandCenter) is consistently ranked the #1 advertising graduate program in the country.^[49]

[edit] Fortune 500 Companies and other large corporations

The Greater Richmond area was named the third best city for business by MarketWatch in September of 2007; ranking only behind the Minneapolis and Denver areas and just above Boston. The area is home to nine Fortune 500 companies, including electric utility Dominion Resources; consumer electronics retailer Circuit City, which also spun off the used car retailer CarMax, now a separate Fortune 500 company; Performance Food Group; LandAmerica Financial Group; Owens & Minor; Brink's Company, a security services outfit; Genworth Financial, the former insurance arm of GE, the recently relocated MeadWestvaco, a leading global producer of packaging, coated and specialty papers, consumer and office products and specialty chemicals and Altria Group.

Richmond has the most Fortune 500 headquarters of any city in Virginia and only five metro areas in the country have more Fortune 500 company headquarters than the Richmond area. In addition to the nine Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the Richmond area, four Fortune 1000 companies also have their headquarters located in the area.^[50]

Other Fortune 500 companies, while not headquartered in the area, do have a major presence here. These include Wachovia Securities headquarters (a subsidiary of Charlotte-based Wachovia Corporation), SunTrust Banks Incorporated (based in Atlanta), credit card agency Capital One Financial Corporation (officially based in McLean, Virginia, but founded in Richmond with its operations center and most employees in the Richmond area), the medical and pharmaceutical giant, McKesson (based in San Francisco) and Universal Corporation, also in the tobacco industry, has its corporate headquarters here as well. Capital One and Altria company's Philip Morris USA are two of the largest private Richmond-area employers. In 2007, Altria announced its plans to move the corporate HQ from New York City to Richmond in 2008, adding another Fortune 500 corporation to Richmond's list.

DuPont also maintains a production facility known as the Spruance Plant, and Qimonda, formerly Infineon Technologies, has a facility located at Elko Tract (a former WWII airfield and ghost town) near Richmond International Airport, and produces DRAM computer memory in the area.

Richmond is also home to the rapidly developing Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, which opened in 1995 as an incubator facility for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Located adjacent to the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, the park currently has more than 575,000 square feet (53,000 m²) of research, laboratory and office space for a diverse tenant mix of companies, research institutes, government laboratories and non-profit organizations. The United Network for Organ Sharing, which maintains the nation's organ transplant waiting list, occupies one building in the park. Philip Morris USA also recently opened a $350 million research and development facility in the park as well. With approximately 600 additional Philip Morris researchers in 2007, once fully developed in the next five to 10 years, park officials expect the site to employ roughly 3,000 scientists, technicians and engineers.

Richmond is also the home of the Ukrop's Super Market, a regional, family-owned chain of supermarkets, known for its remarkable customer service, innovation, and friendly employees, as well as its closed-on-Sundays and no-alcohol-on-the-shelves policies. Ukrops is a high-profile sponsor of community events like the Monument Avenue 10K, Easter on Parade, and the Ukrop's Christmas Parade.

[edit] Recent economic developments

In recent years, Richmond has been attempting to revive its downtown. Recent downtown initiatives include the Canal Walk, a new Greater Richmond Convention Center, and expansion on both VCU campuses. Despite numerous controversies related to excessive employee salaries and wasteful spending of public tax money,^[51] a new performing arts center, Richmond CenterStage, will reportedly open in 2009.^[52] The complex will include a renovation of the Carpenter Center and construction of a new multipurpose hall, community playhouse, and arts education center in parts of the old Thalhimers department store.^[53] As planned by the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation (VAPAF), the publicly-funded arts center project now known as CenterStage has been mired in controversy, poor planning and questionable spending of money raised from a special citywide meals tax hike.^[54]

The center is set to receive $25 million in 'City of the Future' funds from Mayor Doug Wilder even though the current planners of CenterStage have yet to disclose annual administrative and operating expenses or initiate an artists endowment.^[55] There are also few representatives from the area's performing arts community in key positions of authority within the project, leading critics to speculate that CenterStage is more of a real estate deal designed to prop up a failing convention center expansion than a worthwhile arts venture.^[56] The city has entertained multiple proposals for a new baseball stadium for the AAA Class Richmond Braves in recent years, but none has yet advanced beyond initial planning. In January, 2008, the Braves announced that in 2009 they will be leaving Richmond for Gwinnett County, GA due to Richmond's continued inaction on an improved ballpark.

In February, 2006, MeadWestvaco announced that they would move from Stamford, Connecticut, to Richmond in 2008.^[57] The company is planning an 8-10 story office building downtown, near the Federal Reserve building.^[58]

[edit] Arts and culture

[edit] Museums and art galleries

The Jefferson Davis Monument, located at the intersection of Monument Avenue and Davis Avenue in Richmond.

Richmond has a significant art community, and the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts is consistently ranked as one of the best in the nation.^[59] In addition to many art venues associated with the university, there are also several attractions nearby, including the Library of Virginia, the Valentine Richmond History Center, the Virginia Historical Society, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Richmond Symphony, and the Richmond Ballet. The Byrd Theatre in Carytown is a classical movie theater from the 1920s era that still features second-run movies on a regular basis, and is popular among the college student population, particularly because of its low ticket price of $1.99.

The Science Museum of Virginia, is also located on Broad Street near the Fan district. It is housed in the neoclassical Union Station, designed by Beaux-Arts-trained John Russell Pope in 1919. Adjacent to the Science Museum is the Richmond Children's Museum, a fun-filled museum with many hands-on activities.

As the former Capital of the Confederate States of America, Richmond is home to many museums and battlefields of the American Civil War. The Museum of the Confederacy, located near the Virginia State Capitol and the MCV Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, is in Court End along with the Davis Mansion, also known as the White House of the Confederacy; both today feature a wide variety of objects and material from the era. Near the riverfront is the Tredegar Iron Works and Civil War Battlefields National Park Visitors Center. There is a former slave trail along the river as well. The dome-like structure to commemorate the Centennial Exhibition of the American Civil War now serves as a cafeteria on the MCV Campus of VCU. The National Park Service's Richmond Civil War Visitor Center, in the Tredegar Iron Works, has three floors of exhibits and artifacts, films, a bookstore, picnic areas and more.

Other historical points of interest include St. John's Church, the site of Patrick Henry's famous, "Give me liberty or give me death" speech, and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, features many of his writings and other artifacts of his life, particularly when he lived in the city as a child, a student, and a successful writer. The John Marshall House, the home of the former Chief Justice of the United States, is also located downtown and features many of his writings and objects from his life. Hollywood Cemetery is also the burial grounds of two U.S. Presidents as well as many other civil war officers and soldiers. The home of former Confederate General Robert E. Lee still stands on Franklin Street in downtown Richmond.

The city is also home to many monuments, most notably several along Monument Avenue in the Fan District. Other monuments of interest in the city include the A.P. Hill monument, the Bill "Bojangles" Robinson monument, the Christopher Columbus monument, and the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

Dedicated in 1956, the Virginia War Memorial is also located on Belvedere near the riverfront, and is a monument to Virginians who died in battle in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. Located near Byrd Park is the famous World War I Memorial Carillon, a 56 bell carillon tower.

[edit] Performing arts

• Richmond Ballet - Founded in 1957. Current artistic director is Stoner Winslet.
• Richmond Symphony - Current music director is Mark Russell Smith.
• Richmond Virginians - Barbershop chorus founded in the 1950s (as the Tobaccoland Chorus). Current music director is Mike Wallen.
• Virginia Opera - The Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia, founded in 1974. Current artistic director is Peter Mark. Presents eight mainstage performances every year at the Landmark Theater.
• Greater Richmond Chorus - Sweet Adeline chorus. Current music director is Roger Tarpy.
• Richmond Department of Recreation and Parks presents an annual Festival of the Arts at Dogwood Dell in Byrd Park.
• Barksdale Theatre- Founded in 1953, originally as the Hanover Tavern. Created the nation's first dinner theatre. The Barksdale was Virginia’s first performing arts organization to open its doors to integrated audiences. Continues today as The Hanover Tavern, in Hanover Virginia, Barksdale Theatre in Richmond.
• Theatre IV- founded in 1975 by Bruce Miller and Phil Whiteway and is one of the largest running theatres in Virginia. Tours children's shows all over the country. Now a family playhouse after Bruce and Phil took over Barksdale Theatre in Willow Lawn in 2001.
• S.P.A.R.C. - School Of The Performing Arts in the Richmond Community. SPARC was founded in 1981, and trained children to become "triple threats", meaning they were equally versed in singing, acting, and dancing. SPARC has become the largest community-based theater arts education program in Virginia and it offers classes to every age group, during the summer and throughout the year.
• Recently, the Richmond Coliseum has drawn high-profile acts such as Cher, Bette Midler, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Hilary Duff, George Strait, Mary J. Blige, Nine Inch Nails, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Alison Krauss, Toby Keith, Dancing with the Stars, Blue Man Group, R. Kelly, My Chemical Romance and Tool.
• Richmond CenterStage, a new performing arts center planned to open in Downtown Richmond in 2009. The complex will reportedly include a renovation of the Carpenter Center and construction of a new multipurpose hall, community playhouse, and arts education center in parts of the old Thalhimers department store.
• Classic Amphitheatre at Strawberry Hill, the former summer concert venue located at Richmond International Raceway. Full season schedules from 1993-1998 are listed.
• Theatre IV - the Children's Theatre of Virginia offers year-round live performances for families, geared for ages four and up.
• A local franchise of ComedySportz in the West End just outside the city in Henrico county.

[edit] Sports

Richmond does not have any major league professional sports teams. However, there are several minor league teams. The city's professional baseball team is the Richmond Braves, a AAA minor league baseball team (the farm team of the Atlanta Braves). The Braves currently play at The Diamond through the 2008 season, although they recently announced plans to move to Gwinnett County, Georgia at the start of the 2009 season.^[60]

The Richmond Lions, a USA Rugby Division 2 rugby union team, play at Dorey Park. The Richmond Kickers, a United Soccer Leagues Second Division soccer team, and the 2007 Colonial Athletic Association Champions, Richmond Spider football team play at the University of Richmond Stadium.

The Richmond Coliseum, a 13,000 plus seat multi-purpose arena in downtown Richmond, is the home of a large number of sporting events, concerts, festivals, and trade shows and is also home to the Richmond Renegades of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The Colonial Athletic Association has hosted its annual men's basketball tournament at the Coliseum since 1990. The Coliseum has played host as a NCAA men's basketball tournament site and in 1994 played host to the women's basketball Final Four. In December 2006, WWE's Armageddon Live Pay-Per-View was held at the Coliseum.

Th Stuart C. Siegel Center, on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in downtown Richmond, is the 7,500 plus seat home multi-purpose arena of the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams