Part 2
Swinging around the Capitol, you come to the Federal-style Governor’s Mansion, erected in 1811-13. From 1788 to 1811 the governors of Virginia had to live in a two-story wooden structure, ironically called “The Palace,” located on the same site as the present building. Just outside the Capitol Square, to the north, you will see the new State Library and Supreme Court of Appeals building. ¶ _Leave Capitol Square by same gate through which you entered, stopping on Grace just across Ninth._
St. Paul’s Church
Situated here at Ninth and Grace is St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. General Robert E. Lee worshipped here whenever he was in Richmond during the War Between the States, as did President Jefferson Davis regularly. Up an aisle to this church on Sunday, April 2, 1865, strode a messenger to President Davis’ pew. Davis quietly left the church. The message told him that Petersburg had fallen, that Richmond must be evacuated. The church is filled with memorials of many kinds, and is referred to by some as “The Westminster of Richmond.” ¶ _Proceed westward on Grace to Seventh Street._
Grace Street, for several blocks west, is one of Richmond’s newest downtown retail shopping centers. Once a residential section, it now takes its place with Broad Street (one block to the right) as a major business thoroughfare. ¶ _Turn right on Seventh three blocks to Clay. Turn left on Clay to Sixth._
Sixth Street Market
Country produce and Negro flower-sellers combine to make this a colorful sight in the vicinity of Marshall and Sixth Streets. ¶ _Continue on Sixth three blocks to Grace. Turn right at Grace. Proceed west on Grace to end of 1100 block and turn left on Lombardy one block to Monument Avenue. Turn right; halt._
Monument Avenue
Here begins Monument Avenue, the continuation of Franklin Street, the newer section of the thoroughfare that has long been a main residential street of the city. This avenue takes its name from monuments to Confederate leaders.
J. E. B. Stuart Monument
This statue by Fred Moynihan shows General Stuart, the great cavalry leader, in a typically dashing pose. Stuart was one of the most colorful men in the Confederacy, once riding his men eighty miles in 27 hours, another time riding around McClellan’s whole army—always courageous, always gay. ¶ _Proceed westward one block on Monument to Allen Avenue._
Lee Monument
Only three letters mark this monument—Lee. The South felt no more were needed. This marvelous likeness of General Lee on “Traveller” was sculptured by the French artist, Jean Antoine Mercie, and was unveiled by Lee’s West Point classmate and friend, General Joseph E. Johnston, on May 30, 1890. Arrived in Richmond, the statue was drawn to its location by schoolchildren. ¶ _Proceed westward on Monument four blocks to Davis Avenue._
Davis Monument
The monument to Jefferson Davis, sculptured by E. V. Valentine, shows the President of the Confederacy in the posture of oratory. Around the monument are excerpts from this most notable speeches. ¶ _Proceed westward on Monument three blocks to the Boulevard._
First Baptist Church
On your left, at Monument Avenue and the Boulevard, is First Baptist Church, one of Richmond’s numerous large churches.
Jackson Monument
This monument to Thomas J. (“Stonewall”) Jackson, the sculpture for which is the work of F. William Sievers, shows him mounted on “Sorrel,” facing north, because he so resolutely opposed the Northern army. Jackson, whose brilliant strategy is studied today by soldiers the world over, was a stern, Cromwellian type of commander in strange contrast to the dashing Stuart. Lee called him his “right arm,” and no one has ever been able to estimate the severity of the blow his death dealt the Southern cause. ¶ _Continue westward on Monument to Belmont._
Maury Monument
Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury (F. William Sievers was the sculptor for this monument), is not as well known to the average citizen as he deserves to be, but sailors on all the seas know his work and are grateful for it. He is known as “The Pathfinder of the Seas” because he charted the oceans with such accuracy that even today the Pilot Charts issued by the Hydrographic Office of the Navy Department are founded on his researches. In the house which still stands close to the present Valentine Museum, Maury, seeking ways that would enable his pathetically small Confederate Navy to be effective against the Union gunboats, invented the submarine electrical torpedo. ¶ _U-turn around the monument; proceed eastward on Monument one block to Sheppard; right on Sheppard three blocks to Kensington; proceed left on Kensington to the Boulevard; turn right._
Battle Abbey
The Battle Abbey, or Confederate Memorial Institute, houses a large collection of portraits of Confederate officers, and collections of Confederate battle flags, arms and equipment, but is chiefly distinguished for its very beautiful series of mural paintings of Confederate scenes by the French artist, Charles Hoffbauer. The artist had done much of his preliminary work when he was called back to fight for France in 1914. When he returned to Richmond after the war, Hoffbauer painted out all he had previously done and painted war as only one who had been through it could. Since 1946 the Abbey has been the property of the Virginia Historical Society. ¶ _Proceed on the Boulevard to Grove._
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
This State institution, opened in January, 1936, houses the famous John Barton Payne collections of paintings and prints; the T. Catesby Jones collection of twentieth century European paintings, the Glasgow collection of European Renaissance art, and the fabulous Lillian Thomas Pratt collection of Russian jewelry. The Museum and collections are valued at more than $5,000,000. In addition to its collections, it conducts a regular program of specially assembled exhibitions, lectures and concerts. The museum is the largest art museum in the South and has gained a national reputation because of its biennial exhibitions of contemporary American paintings as well as many other special exhibitions. ¶ _Proceed on the Boulevard two blocks to Ellwood Avenue, turn right on Ellwood six blocks to Nansemond. Turn left on Nansemond one block to Cary Street. Turn right on Cary to central entrance of Windsor Farms residential area. (Street is marked Windsor Way). Proceed through Windsor Farms to Virginia House on Sulgrave Road at Wakefield Road._
Virginia House
Virginia House, home of the late Ambassador and Mrs. Alexander W. Weddell, is built of materials they brought from Warwick Priory, Warwick, England, in 1925. The central section is a reproduction of the Tudor portion of Warwick Priory, founded by the first Earl of Warwick; the right-hand section is an exact replica of the only portion of Sulgrave Manor which remains as it was at the time Lawrence Washington occupied it as his manor house. The royal coat of arms may be seen over a second-story window to your right. The arms were conferred to show that the house had given shelter to Queen Elizabeth in 1572. The house is now the property of the Virginia Historical Society. ¶ _Pull up about 100 yards._
Agecroft Hall
Agecroft was originally built in Lancashire, England, about 1393, brought to Richmond and faithfully rebuilt here in 1925. The old plaster and timber house was the seat of the Langleys, a branch of the royal Plantagenets. Some of its most beautiful features are an oriel window and the great hall with gallery for minstrels, paneled with oak and lighted by stained glass windows. The house is eventually to go to the city as a generously endowed art museum. ¶ _Return to Cary Street Road, turn left, proceed westward to Wilton Road, turn left, proceed to entrance to Wilton (marked) at end of thoroughfare._
Wilton
This stately house was built in 1753 for William Randolph III on a site overlooking the James about six miles below Richmond. The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Virginia bought it several years ago to save the beautiful paneling from being sold out of Virginia, and had it faithfully rebuilt here on another site overlooking the James. ¶ _Return to Cary Street Road, turn left and proceed westward to intersection of Cary Street Road and Three Chopt Road._
Country Club of Virginia
This is Richmond’s largest country club, although there are other private clubs and public golf courses. The Country Club of Virginia boasts one eighteen-hole golf course and one short course at this club, and a very fine eighteen-hole course up the James River, where the Club has another smaller clubhouse, skeet shooting traps and river sports. ¶ _Continue out Three Chopt Road to Towana Road, which leads to the University of Richmond._
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond includes Richmond College, a college of liberal arts and sciences for men; Westhampton College, offering the same courses to women; the T. C. Williams School of Law for professional study; and the Evening School of Business Administration. We pass through the men’s college, and across the lake to the women’s college. ¶ _Proceed on out of Westhampton College to River Road, turn left on River Road back to Cary Street Road, right on Cary back to Boulevard, right on Boulevard to Columbus Monument, Byrd Park._
Columbus Monument
This monument was erected by the Italians of Richmond. The park includes tennis courts, playgrounds, acres of woodland, and a small boating lake to your left. Southeast of this point lies Shields Lake, the mecca of Richmond swimmers in the summer, and beyond that “Maymont,” the city’s most beautiful park. ¶ _Turn right, proceed around reservoir._
World War I Memorial
This carillon is Virginia’s memorial to her dead of World War I. The bells were imported from England. A museum containing relics of that costly European struggle is located in a room at the base of the tower. ¶ _Return north on Boulevard to Monument Avenue, turn right on Monument, which becomes Franklin Street upon reaching Stuart Circle. Continue east to Laurel Street._
Monroe Park
On the right is one of the many municipal parks, most of which are located outside the heavily built-up part of the city. Looking through the park you can see Richmond’s Civic Center, The Mosque, where conventions, exhibitions, concerts and other events are held. It contains an auditorium seating 5,000 persons. ¶ _Proceed eastward on Franklin, halting between Madison and Henry Streets._
Commonwealth Club
Here at “The Commonwealth,” the mid-town men’s club of the city, the Richmond German Club gives the “Germans,” which are the most formal and unusual features of Richmond’s social life, somewhat comparable to the Philadelphia Assemblies and Charleston’s St. Cecilias. ¶ _Continue eastward on Franklin to First Street._
City Library
The modern building on the southeast corner is the main City Library, a gift to the city, of the late James H. Dooley. It was built in 1930 on the site of the birthplace of James Branch Cabell, Virginia author. The library has nearly 200,000 catalogued volumes, pamphlets, periodicals, recordings and sheet music. ¶ _Continue eastward on Franklin, halting briefly between Second and Third Streets._
Woman’s Club
The Woman’s Club has preserved this comfortable nineteenth century home by adding a larger auditorium at the back and making it their clubhouse, where are heard many of the distinguished lecturers and artists of today.
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Richmond Battlefield Parks
It is interesting to tour Richmond’s Battlefield Park, which embraces the fields covered during the Seven Days’ Campaign (June 26-July 2, 1862) and at Second Cold Harbor, May 31-June 3, 1864. The battlefields of Fort Harrison, Malvern Hill, Frayser’s Farm, Savage Station, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, Cold Harbor, Gaines’ Mill, and Mechanicsville may be toured. Fort Harrison, six miles east of the city is Park Headquarters. An interesting museum is located there.
Richmond Ideal for Conventions
Historical shrines of world-wide interest, excellent transportation service, splendid modern hotels, and every facility available for successful meetings have made Richmond one of the outstanding convention centers of America. Delegates attending conventions here have a wide choice of selecting their entertainment programs. Some enjoy trips to Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, historic Hampton Roads and Fort Monroe, the beautiful Skyline Drive, the battlefields surrounding the city and the many diversified industrial plants, while others participate in their favorite sport or seek diversions in the many forms of entertainment to be had.
Proximity to the centers of the population, coupled with other numerous advantages, has resulted in record-breaking attendance at meetings here.
In Richmond, Capital of the Old South, an industrial, commercial, educational and financial center of the new, nothing is left undone to make every convention meeting in this city successful and enjoyable.
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RICHMOND TODAY!
_POPULATION_ of approximately 360,000 in the metropolitan area with an average increase 7,000 per year since 1940.
_INDUSTRIAL RANK_ of 5th in the nation in relative gain in net value of manufactured products from 1929 to 1947.
_CIGARETTE CAPITAL_ of the Nation, with annual output of more than 110 billion cigarettes—enough to reach the moon and back 10 times, or encircle the earth 180 times.
_PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIES_ in order of employment rank: cigarettes and other tobacco products, chemical products including rayon and cellophane, food and kindred products, furniture and wood products, metals and metal products, apparel and textile products, paper and paper products, printing and publishing.
_TRADE CENTER_ of the South Atlantic region, ranking 35th in retail sales, 29th in wholesale sales, among principal cities of the Nation.
_FINANCIAL CENTER_ and headquarters of the 5th Federal Reserve District; 11 other banks and trust companies; home office of 32 insurance companies.
_TRANSPORTATION GATEWAY_ with 6 trunk-line railroads, 5 air lines, 6 inter-city bus lines, 50 motor freight carriers, and water freight service on the James River.
_BALANCED ECONOMY_ with employment widely diversified and strong consumer goods industries result in unusual economic stability and resistance to fluctuations in the national business cycle.
_RECREATIONAL:_ 1 public and 5 private golf courses, 30 theatres, a stadium for athletics, municipal swimming pool, a Civic Center for opera, large conventions, etc., seating 5,000; 18 parks and 43 playgrounds.
_CLIMATE:_ Equable climate with average temperature, 57.9 degrees F.; mean annual rainfall, 42.02 inches.
_EDUCATIONAL:_ University of Richmond, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond Professional Institute of College of William and Mary, Union Theological Seminary, Presbyterian Training School, Virginia Union University (Colored), 16 private and 14 parochial schools, 4 business colleges, 52 public school buildings, state and municipal libraries, numerous museums, etc.
_MEDICAL CENTER:_ Institutions and specialists of wide renown. Medical College of Virginia—with schools of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and nursing; 17 hospitals with 3,527 beds.
The Williamsburg-Yorktown-Jamestown Area
Only an hour’s drive southeast of Richmond on Route 60 is the most historic area to be found anywhere in America.
Here is Williamsburg, the former center of English culture in the new world, almost completely restored to its eighteenth century appearance. Here you will see the historic Colonial Capitol, The Governor’s Palace and its beautiful grounds, the famous Raleigh Tavern, the Public Gaol, the famed Sir Christopher Wren Building of the College of William and Mary and many other colonial structures restored through the beneficence of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Seven miles from Williamsburg is Jamestown Island where in 1607 the first permanent settlement of English speaking people in the New World was established. A ruined tower of an early Colonial church still stands here, and many interesting relics are on display in the grounds which are under the supervision of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
Yorktown is only fifteen miles from Williamsburg. This famous little town which saw a great nation come into being bears a great heritage. It was here that proud Lord Cornwallis was forced to surrender to General George Washington and his continental forces in 1781. The original fortifications erected during the great siege of Yorktown have been restored. Historic buildings and relics of the Revolution make Yorktown a spot which every American citizen should visit.
Less than an hour’s drive from the Colonial Williamsburg area is Hampton Roads, an important channel through which the waters of three rivers pass into the Chesapeake Bay. Fort Monroe, on Old Point Comfort, and Fort Wool, on an island in the channel, defend the entrance from the Bay. It was in Hampton Roads that the first battle between iron-clad vessels, the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac_, took place on March 9, 1862. President Lincoln, Secretary Seward and Confederate commissioners held their “Hampton Roads Conference” on a steamer near Fort Monroe on February 3, 1865.
Be sure to visit Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown and the Hampton Roads area during your visit to Richmond, for nowhere else may you cover as much historic and hallowed ground in a single day. This famous area may be reached quickly and conveniently. Ask for information which will facilitate your trip there.
THE JEFFERSON
Whether you’re traveling on business or pleasure, you’ll enjoy every minute of your stay at the Hotel Jefferson in Richmond. Long a center of social and cultural life in Virginia, this famous recently-restored hotel merges the traditions of the past with present-day beauty, convenience and hospitality.
Among the things which will make your visit enjoyable are the Jefferson’s world-famous Lobby ... the luxurious Empire Room ... Jefferson Court with its renowned statue of Thomas Jefferson ... the new Fountain Room and the efficient, beautifully-appointed Coffee Shop ... the handsome, spacious Auditorium and Banquet Rooms ... the lovely Guest Rooms and the Jefferson’s traditional hospitality and service.
The Jefferson is located just outside the noisy section of the city, yet within easy walking distance of theatres, shopping district and financial section. It is convenient to all forms of transportation. Free parking space is provided. Rates range from $3.50.
_For further information communicate with_ THE HOTEL JEFFERSON JAMES M. POWELL, _Manager_ Richmond, Virginia
Transcriber’s Notes
—Silently corrected a few typos.
—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.
—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.