Richmond, Virginia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richmond
State capital and independent city
Downtown skyline along the James River St. John's Episcopal Church Monument Avenue Main Street Station Virginia State Capitol Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  "RVA", "River City"
Motto(s):  Latin: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars)
Richmond Location in Virginia Show map of Virginia Richmond Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Named for	Richmond, London
Area
• City	62.57 sq mi (162.05 km2)
• Land	59.92 sq mi (155.20 km2)
• Water	2.65 sq mi (6.85 km2)
Elevation	213 ft (65 m)
Population  (2020)
• City	226,610
• Rank	100th in the United States 4th in Virginia
• Density	3,782/sq mi (1,484.75/km2)
• Urban	1,059,150 (US: 44th)
• Urban density	2,067.3/sq mi (798.2/km2)
• Metro	1,339,182 (US: 44th)
Demonym(s)	Richmonder
GDP
• Richmond (MSA)	.615 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes	23173, 23218–23242, 23249–23250, 23255, 23260–23261, 23269, 23273–23274, 23276, 23278–23279, 23282, 23284–23286, 23288–23295, 23297–23298
Area codes	804 and 686
FIPS code	51-67000
GNIS feature ID	1499957
Nomenclature evolution Prior to 1071 – Richemont: a town in Normandy, France. 1071 to 1501 – Richmond: a castle town in Yorkshire, UK. 1501 to 1742 – Richmond, a palace town in London, UK. 1742 to present – Richmond, Virginia.

Richmond (/ˈrɪtʃmənd/ RITCH-mənd) is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city since 1871. The city's population in the 2020 census was 226,610, up from 204,214 in 2010, making it Virginia's fourth-most populous city. The Richmond metropolitan area, with over 1.3 million residents, is the Commonwealth's third-most populous.

Richmond is located at the James River's fall line, 44 mi (71 km) west of Williamsburg, 66 mi (106 km) east of Charlottesville, 91 mi (146 km) east of Lynchburg and 92 mi (148 km) south of Washington, D.C. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, Richmond is at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64 and encircled by Interstate 295, Virginia State Route 150 and Virginia State Route 288. Major suburbs include Midlothian to the southwest, Chesterfield to the south, Varina to the southeast, Sandston to the east, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west, and Mechanicsville to the northeast.

Richmond was an important village in the Powhatan Confederacy and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown from 1609 to 1611. Founded in 1737, it replaced Williamsburg as 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 passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom written by Thomas Jefferson. During the American Civil War, Richmond was the capital of the Confederate States of America.

The Jackson Ward neighborhood is the city's traditional hub of African American commerce and culture, once known as the "Black Wall Street of America" and the "Harlem of the South." At the beginning of the 20th century, Richmond had one of the world's first successful electric streetcar systems.

Law, finance, and government primarily drive Richmond's economy. The downtown area is home to federal, state, and local governmental agencies as well as notable legal and banking firms. The greater metropolitan area includes several Fortune 500 companies: Performance Food Group, Altria, CarMax, Dominion Energy, Markel, Owens and Minor, Genworth Financial, and ARKO Corp. The city is home to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and a Federal Reserve Bank (one of 13 such courts and one of 12 such banks). It is the home of the influential Music/Art group GWAR.

History

Colonial era

After the first permanent English-speaking settlement was established in April 1607, at Jamestown, Virginia, Captain Christopher Newport led explorers northwest up the James River, to an area that was inhabited by Powhatan Native Americans.

In 1737, planter William Byrd II commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid. Byrd named the city "Richmond" after the English town of Richmond near (and now part of) London, because the view of the James River was strikingly similar to the view of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in 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.

Revolution and early United States

In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his famous "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech in St. John's Church in Richmond, crucial for deciding Virginia's participation in the First Continental Congress and setting the course for revolution and independence. On April 18, 1780, the state capital was moved from the colonial capital of Williamsburg to Richmond, to provide a more centralized location for Virginia's increasing westerly population, as well as to isolate the capital from British attack. The latter motive proved to be in vain, and in 1781, under the command of Benedict Arnold, Richmond was burned by British troops, causing Governor Thomas Jefferson to flee as the Virginia militia, led by Sampson Mathews, defended the city.

Richmond recovered quickly from the war, and by 1782 was once again a thriving city. In 1786, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (drafted by Thomas Jefferson) was passed at the temporary capitol in Richmond, providing the basis for the separation of church and state, a key element in the development of the freedom of religion in the United States. A permanent home for the new government, the Virginia State Capitol building, was designed by Thomas Jefferson with the assistance of Charles-Louis Clérisseau, and was completed in 1788.

After the American Revolutionary War, Richmond emerged as an important industrial center. To facilitate the transfer of cargo from the flat-bottomed James River bateaux above the fall line to the ocean-faring ships below, George Washington helped design the James River and Kanawha Canal from Westham to Richmond, in the 18th century to bypass Richmond's rapids, with the intent of providing a water route across the Appalachians to the Kanawha River. The legacy of the canal boatmen is represented by the figure in the center of the city flag. As a result of this and ample access to hydropower due to the falls, 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. 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.

Civil War

On April 17, 1861, five days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, the legislature voted to secede from the United States and joined the Confederacy. Official action came in May, after the Confederacy promised to move its national capital to Richmond. The city was at the end of a long supply line, which made it somewhat difficult to defend, although supplies continued to reach the city by canal and wagon for years, since it was protected by the Army of Northern Virginia and arguably the Confederacy's best troops and commanders. It became the main target of Union armies, especially in the campaigns of 1862 and 1864–65.

In addition to Virginia and Confederate government offices and hospitals, a railroad hub, and one of the South's largest slave markets, Richmond had the largest factory in the Confederacy, the Tredegar Iron Works, which turned out artillery and other munitions, including the 723 tons of armor plating that covered the Virginia, the world's first ironclad used in war, as well as much of the Confederates' heavy ordnance machinery. The Confederate Congress shared quarters with the Virginia General Assembly in the Virginia State Capitol, with the Confederacy's executive mansion, the "White House of the Confederacy", located two blocks away. The Seven Days Battles followed in late June and early July 1862, during which Union General McClellan threatened to take Richmond but ultimately failed.

Three years later, as March 1865 ended, the Confederate capitol became indefensible. On March 25, Confederate General John B. Gordon's desperate attack on Fort Stedman east of Petersburg failed. On April 1, General Philip Sheridan, assigned to interdict the Southside Railroad, met brigades commanded by George Pickett at the Five Forks junction, smashing them, taking thousands of prisoners, and encouraging General Grant to order a general advance. When the Union Sixth Corps broke through Confederate lines on Boydton Plank Road south of Petersburg, Confederate casualties exceeded 5,000, or about a tenth of Lee's defending army. General Lee then informed Jefferson Davis that he was about to evacuate Richmond.

Davis and his cabinet left the city by train that night, as government officials burned documents and departing Confederate troops burned tobacco and other warehouses to deny their contents to the victors. On April 2, 1865, General Godfrey Weitzel, commander of the 25th corps of the United States Colored Troops, accepted the city's surrender from the mayor and group of leading citizens who remained. The Union troops eventually managed to stop the raging fires but about 25% of the city's buildings were destroyed.

President Abraham Lincoln visited General Grant at Petersburg on April 3, and took a launch to Richmond the next day, while Jefferson Davis attempted to organize his Confederate government at Danville. Lincoln met Confederate assistant secretary of War John A. Campbell, and handed him a note inviting Virginia's legislature to end their rebellion. After Campbell spun the note to Confederate legislators as a possible end to the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln rescinded his offer and ordered General Weitzel to prevent the Confederate state legislature from meeting. Union forces killed, wounded or captured 8,000 Confederate troops at Saylor's Creek southwest of Petersburg on April 6. General Lee continued to reject General Grant's surrender suggestion until Sheridan's infantry and cavalry appeared in front of his retreating army on April 8. He surrendered his remaining approximately 10,000 troops at Appomattox Court House the following morning. Jefferson Davis retreated to North Carolina, then further south, after Lincoln was assassinated a few days later, the White House rejected the surrender terms negotiated by General Sherman and envoys of North Carolina governor Zebuon Vance, which failed to mention slavery but generally were the same terms agreed to by Grant and Lee i.e. rebel troops could keep their horses and their arms. According to at least one school of Civil War historians, this was the main reason the post-Lincoln White House rejected the surrender terms. Jefferson Davis was captured on May 10 near Irwinville, Georgia and taken back to Virginia, where he was charged with treason and imprisoned for two years at Fort Monroe until freed on bail.

Postbellum

Richmond emerged a decade after the smoldering rubble of the Civil War to resume its position as an economic powerhouse, with iron front buildings and massive brick factories. 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. Tobacco warehousing and processing continued to play a role, boosted by the world's first cigarette-rolling machine, invented by James Albert Bonsack of Roanoke in 1880/81. Contributing to Richmond's resurgence 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 across the country. Sprague's system used an overhead wire and trolley pole to collect current, with electric motors on the car's trucks. In Richmond, the transition from streetcars to buses began in May 1947 and was completed on November 25, 1949.

20th century

By the beginning of the 20th 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. In 1900, the Census Bureau reported Richmond's population as 62.1% white and 37.9% black. Freed slaves and their descendants created a thriving African-American business community, and the city's historic Jackson Ward became known as the "Wall Street of Black America." 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. Other figures from this time included John Mitchell, Jr. In 1910, the former city of Manchester was consolidated with the city of Richmond, and in 1914, the city annexed Barton Heights, Ginter Park, and Highland Park areas of Henrico County. In May 1914, Richmond became the headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve Bank.

Several major performing arts venues were constructed during the 1920s, including what are now the Landmark Theatre, Byrd Theatre, and Carpenter Theatre. The city's first radio station, WRVA, began broadcasting in 1925. WTVR-TV (CBS 6), the first television station in Richmond, was the first television station south of Washington, D.C.

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. In 1970, Richmond's borders expanded by an additional 27 square miles (70 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 within the city's perimeters on January 1, 1970. In 1996, still-sore tensions 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. After several months of controversy, the bronze statue of Ashe was finally completed on Monument Avenue facing the opposite direction from the Confederate Heroes on July 10, 1996.

A multimillion-dollar flood wall was completed in 1995, in order to protect low-lying areas of city from the oft-rising waters of the James River. As a result, the River District businesses grew rapidly, and today the area is home to much of Richmond's entertainment, dining and nightlife activity, bolstered by the creation of a Canal Walk along the city's former industrial canals.

Geography

Richmond is located at 37°32′N 77°28′W / 37.533°N 77.467°W / 37.533; -77.467 (37.538, −77.462). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 62 sq mi (160 km²), of which 60 sq mi (160 km²) is land and 2.7 sq mi (7.0 km²) (4.3%) is water. The city is in the Piedmont region of Virginia, at the James River's highest navigable point. The Piedmont region is characterized by relatively low, rolling hills, and lies between the low, flat 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 44th largest in the United States, includes the independent cities of Richmond, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and Petersburg, and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, and Prince George. On July 1, 2009, the Richmond—Petersburg MSA's population was 1,258,251.

Richmond is located 21.69 mi (34.91 km) north of Petersburg, Virginia, 66.1 mi (106.4 km) southeast of Charlottesville, Virginia, 79.24 mi (127.52 km) northwest of Norfolk, Virginia, 96.87 mi (155.90 km) south of Washington, D.C., and 138.72 mi (223.25 km) northeast of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Cityscape

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 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, and Monroe Ward, which contains the Jefferson Hotel. Richmond's East End includes neighborhoods like the rapidly gentrifying Church Hill, home to St. John's Church, 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.

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.Carver has seen 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, which contains 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.

Richmond's Northside is home to numerous listed historic districts. Neighborhoods such as Chestnut Hill-Plateau and Barton Heights began to be developed at the end of the 19th century when the new streetcar system made it possible for people to live on the city's outskirts and commute downtown. Other prominent Northside neighborhoods include Azalea, Barton Heights, Bellevue, Chamberlayne, Ginter Park, Highland Park, and Rosedale.

Farther west is the affluent, suburban West End. Windsor Farms is among its best-known sections. The West End also includes middle- to low-income neighborhoods, such as Laurel, Farmington, and the areas around the Regency Mall. More affluent areas include Glen Allen, Short Pump, and the areas of Tuckahoe away from Regency Mall, all north and northwest of the city. The University of Richmond and the Country Club of Virginia are located on this side of town near the Richmond-Henrico border.

The portion of the city south of the James River is known as the Southside. Southside neighborhoods range from the affluent and middle-class suburban Westover Hills, Forest Hill, 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.

Climate

Richmond has a humid subtropical (Köppen: Cfa) or oceanic (Trewartha: Do) climate, with hot, humid summers and moderately cold winters. The mountains to the west act as a partial barrier to outbreaks of cold, continental air in winter. Arctic air is delayed long enough to be modified and further warmed as it subsides in its approach to Richmond. The open waters of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean contribute to the humid summers and cool winters. The coldest weather normally occurs from late December to early February, and the January daily mean temperature is 37.9 °F (3.3 °C), with an average of 6.0 days with highs at or below the freezing mark. Richmond's Downtown and areas south and east of downtown are in USDA Hardiness zones 7b. Surrounding suburbs and areas to the north and west of Downtown are in Hardiness Zone 7a. Temperatures seldom fall below 0 °F (−18 °C), with the most recent subzero reading on January 7, 2018, when the temperature reached −3 °F (−19 °C). The July daily mean temperature is 79.3 °F (26.3 °C), and high temperatures reach or exceed 90 °F (32 °C) approximately 43 days a year; 100 °F (38 °C) temperatures are not uncommon but do not occur every year. Extremes in temperature have ranged from −12 °F (−24 °C) on January 19, 1940, to 107 °F (42 °C) on August 6, 1918. The record cold maximum is 11 °F (−12 °C), set on February 11 and 12, 1899. The record warm minimum is 81 °F (27 °C), set on July 12, 2011. The warmest months recorded were July 2020 and August 1900, both averaging 82.9°F (28.3 °C). The coldest, January 1940, averaged 24.2 °F (-4.3 °C).

Precipitation is rather uniformly distributed throughout the year. Dry periods lasting several weeks sometimes occur, especially in autumn, when long periods of pleasant, mild weather are most common. There is considerable variability in total monthly precipitation amounts from year to year, so no one month can be depended to be normal. Snow has been recorded during seven of the 12 months. Falls of 4 in (10 cm) or more within 24 hours occur once a year on average. Annual snowfall is usually moderate, averaging 10.5 in (27 cm) per season. Snow typically remains on the ground for only one or two days, but it remained for 16 days in 2010 (January 30 to February 14). Ice storms (freezing rain or glaze) are not uncommon, but they are seldom severe enough to cause considerable damage.

The James River reaches tidewater at Richmond, where flooding may occur in any month of the year, most frequently in March and least in July. Hurricanes and tropical storms have been responsible for most flooding during the summer and early fall months. Hurricanes passing near Richmond have produced record rainfalls. In 1955, three hurricanes, including Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane, which brought heavy rains five days apart, produced record rainfall in a six-week period. In 2004, the downtown area suffered extensive flood damage after the remnants of Hurricane Gaston dumped up to 12 in (300 mm) of rain.

Damaging storms occur mainly from snow and freezing rain in winter, and from hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms in other seasons. Damage can come from wind, flooding, rain, or a combination of the three. Tornadoes are infrequent, but some notable ones have been observed in the Richmond area.

Downtown Richmond averages 84 days of nighttime frost annually. Nighttime frost is more common in areas north and west of Downtown and less common south and east of downtown. From 1981 to 2010, the average first temperature at or below freezing was on October 30 and the average last one on April 10.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	3,761		—
1800	5,737		52.5%
1810	9,735		69.7%
1820	12,067		24.0%
1830	16,060		33.1%
1840	20,153		25.5%
1850	27,570		36.8%
1860	37,910		37.5%
1870	51,038		34.6%
1880	63,600		24.6%
1890	81,388		28.0%
1900	85,050		4.5%
1910	127,628		50.1%
1920	171,667		34.5%
1930	182,929		6.6%
1940	193,042		5.5%
1950	230,310		19.3%
1960	219,958		−4.5%
1970	249,621		13.5%
1980	219,214		−12.2%
1990	203,056		−7.4%
2000	197,790		−2.6%
2010	204,214		3.2%
2020	226,610		11.0%
2022 (est.)	229,395		12.3%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

Richmond's population is approximately 226,000. As an independent city, Richmond is surrounded by Henrico County, which has a population of about 334,000. The Greater Richmond region has an estimated population of about 1.3 million.

Richmond, Virginia – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White (NH)	74,506	79,813	95,220	37.67%	39.08%	42.02%
Black or African American (NH)	112,455	102,264	90,490	56.86%	50.08%	39.93%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH)	460	514	440	0.23%	0.25%	0.19%
Asian (NH)	2,437	4,679	6,199	1.23%	2.29%	2.74%
Pacific Islander (NH)	66	93	69	0.03%	0.05%	0.03%
Some Other Race (NH)	319	367	1,378	0.16%	0.18%	0.61%
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH)	2,473	3,681	9,067	1.25%	1.80%	4.00%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	5,074	12,803	23,747	2.57%	6.27%	10.48%
Total	197,790	204,214	226,610	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

Ancestry in Richmond, VA (2014-2018)
Origin			percent
African American (Does not include West Indian or African)			45.2%
English American (Includes "American" ancestry)			12.1%
Scottish or Irish American (Includes Scots-Irish)			9.9%
German American			7.4%
Central American (Includes Honduran, Salvadoran, Costa Rican, etc.)			3.2%
Mexican American			1.8%
Other			20.4%

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 204,214 people living in the city. 50.6% were Black or African American, 40.8% White, 2.3% Asian, 0.3% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.6% of some other race and 2.3% of two or more races. 6.3% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

As of the census of 2000, there were 197,790 people, 84,549 households, and 43,627 families living in the city. The population density was 3,292.6/sq mi (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 57.2% African American, 38.3% White, 0.2% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.5% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.6% 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 age distribution of the population shows 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.

Religion

In 1786, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, penned in 1779 by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted by the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond. The site is now commemorated by the First Freedom Center.

Richmond has several historic churches. Because of its early English colonial history from the early 17th century to 1776, Richmond has a number of prominent Anglican/Episcopal churches including Monumental Church, St. Paul's Episcopal Church and St. John's Episcopal Church. Methodists and Baptists made up another section of early churches, and First Baptist Church of Richmond was the first of these, established in 1780. In the Reformed church tradition, the first Presbyterian Church in the City of Richmond was First Presbyterian Church, organized on June 18, 1812. On February 5, 1845, Second Presbyterian Church of Richmond was founded, which was a historic church where Stonewall Jackson attended and was the first Gothic building and the first gas-lit church to be built in Richmond. St. Peter's Church was dedicated and became the first Catholic church in Richmond on May 25, 1834. The city is also home to the historic Cathedral of the Sacred Heart which is the mother church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond.

The first Jewish congregation in Richmond was Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalom. Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalom was the sixth congregation in the United States. By 1822 K.K. Beth Shalom members worshipped in the first synagogue building in Virginia. They eventually merged with Congregation Beth Ahabah, an offshoot of Beth Shalom. There are two Orthodox Synagogues, Keneseth Beth Israel and Chabad of Virginia. There is an Orthodox Yeshivah K–12 school system known as Rudlin Torah academy, which also includes a post high-school program. There are two Conservative synagogues, Beth El and Or Atid. There are two Reform synagogues, Beth Ahabah and Or Ami. Along with such religious congregations, there are a variety of other Jewish charitable, educational and social service institutions, each serving the Jewish and general communities. These include the Weinstein Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family Services, Jewish Community Federation of Richmond and Richmond Jewish Foundation.

Due to the influx of German immigrants in the 1840s, St. John's German Evangelical church was formed in 1843. Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral held its first worship service in a rented room at 309 North 7th Street in 1917. The cathedral relocated to 30 Malvern Avenue in 1960 and is noted as one of two Eastern Orthodox churches in Richmond and home to the annual Richmond Greek Festival.

There are seven current masjids in the Greater Richmond area, with three more currently in construction, accommodating the growing Muslim population, the first one being Masjid Bilal. In the 1950s, Muslims from the East End got organized under Nation of Islam (NOI). They used to meet in Temple #24 located on North Avenue. After the NOI split in 1975, the Muslims who joined mainstream Islam, start meeting at Shabaaz Restaurant on Nine Mile Road. By 1976, the Muslims used to meet in a rented church. They tried to buy this church, but due to financial difficulties the Muslims instead bought an old grocery store at Chimbarazoo Boulevard, the present location of Masjid Bilal. Initially, the place was called "Masjid Muhammad #24". Only by 1990 did the Muslims renamed it to "Masjid Bilal". Masjid Bilal was followed by the Islamic Center of Virginia, ICVA masjid. The ICVA was established in 1973 as a non profit tax exempt organization. With aggressive fundraising, ICVA was able to buy land on Buford road. Construction of the new masjid began in the early 1980s. The rest of the five current masjids in the Richmond area are Islamic Center of Richmond (ICR) in the west end, Masjid Umm Barakah on 2nd street downtown, Islamic Society of Greater Richmond (ISGR) in the west end, Masjidullah in the north side, and Masjid Ar-Rahman in the east end.

Hinduism is actively practiced, particularly in suburban areas of Henrico and Chesterfield. Some 6,000 families of Indian descent resided in the Richmond Region as of 2011. Hindus are served by several temples and cultural centers. The two most familiar are the Cultural Center of India (CCI) located off of Iron Bridge Road in Chesterfield County and the Hindu Center of Virginia in Henrico County which has garnered national fame and awards for being the first LEED certified religious facility in the commonwealth.

Seminaries in Richmond include: the school of theology at Virginia Union University; a Presbyterian seminary, Union Presbyterian Seminary, and the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. The McCollough Theological Seminary of the United House of Prayer For All People is located in the Church Hill neighborhood of the city.

Bishops that sit in Richmond include those of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (the denomination's largest); the Richmond Area of the United Methodist Church (Virginia Annual Conference), the nation's second-largest and one of the oldest. The Presbytery of the James—Presbyterian Church (USA) – also is based in the Richmond area.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond was canonically erected by Pope Pius VII on July 11, 1820. Today there are 235,816 Catholics at 146 parishes in the Diocese of Richmond. The city of Richmond is home to 19 Catholic parishes. Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is home to the current bishop, Most Reverend Barry C. Knestout, who was appointed by Pope Francis on December 15, 2017.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has three stakes in the greater Richmond area (a stake is an organizational unit that is made up of multiple congregations. As of December 31, 2017, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 95,379 members in 200 congregations within 22 stakes across the state of Virginia). In April 2018, church president Russell M. Nelson announced a new temple to be built in Virginia. The first temple of the church to be built in the state, the temple is located in Glen Allen, Virginia, a northwest suburb of Richmond.

Economy

Richmond's strategic location on the James River at the rocky fall line separating Virginia's Piedmont and Tidewater regions made it a natural development point for commerce. For centuries and three modes of transportation — boats, with the Great Turning Basin; railroad, with the world's only triple crossing of rail lines; and cars, with two intersecting major interstates— the downtown has always been a natural hub.

Law and finance have long been driving forces in the economy. Richmond is home to the Virginia Supreme Court; one of the four courts in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia; one of the four divisions of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia; and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, one of thirteen such appeals courts. Richmond is headquarters to some large law firms: Hunton Andrews Kurth, McGuireWoods, and Williams Mullen. Troutman Sanders, which merged with Richmond-based Mays & Valentine LLP in 2001, also has a significant presence.

The city also is home to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, one of twelve such banks, with many large financial and other companies having significant offices, like Genworth Financial, Capital One, Philip Morris USA, and several banks and brokerages.

Since the 1960s, Richmond has been a prominent hub for advertising agencies and related businesses. One of the most notable Richmond-based agencies, The Martin Agency, was founded in 1965 and employs 500. With local advertising agency support, VCU's graduate advertising school (VCU Brandcenter) has consistently ranked as the best graduate advertising program in the country.

Richmond is home to the rapidly developing Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, which opened in 1995 as a biotechnology and pharmaceutical incubator. Located adjacent to the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, the park has over 575,000 sq ft (53,400 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 opened a $350 million research and development facility in the park in 2007. Once fully developed, park officials expect the site to employ roughly 3,000 scientists, technicians and engineers.

Richmond's revitalized downtown includes the Canal Walk, a new Greater Richmond Convention Center, and expansion on both VCU campuses. A new performing arts center, Richmond CenterStage, opened on September 12, 2009. The complex included 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.

Craft beer, cider, and liquor production is also growing in the River City, with twelve micro-breweries in the city. The oldest is Legend Brewery, founded in 1994. Two cideries, Buskey Cider and Blue Bee Cider, are located in the popular beverage neighborhood of Scott's Addition, which has nine breweries, one meadery, and one distillery. Richmond's three distilleries are Reservoir Distillery, founded in 2010; Belle Isle Craft Spirits, started in 2013; and James River Distillery, established in 2014.

Richmond is attracting film and television industry attention. Several high-profile films have been shot in the metro region, including the major motion picture Lincoln, for which Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Oscar; Killing Kennedy with Rob Lowe, airing on the National Geographic Channel; and Turn, starring Jamie Bell and airing on AMC. Richmond was the main filming location for the PBS drama series Mercy Street, which premiered in Winter 2016. Several organizations, including the Virginia Film Office and the Virginia Production Alliance, and events, like the Richmond International Film Festival and French Film Festival, continue to draw film and media professionals to the region.

Corporations

Greater Richmond was named the third-best city for business by MarketWatch in September 2007, ranking behind Minneapolis and Denver and above Boston. The area is home to six Fortune 500 companies: electric utility Dominion Energy; CarMax; Owens & Minor; Genworth Financial; MeadWestvaco/ WestRock; and Altria Group. Dominion Energy is the only headquartered in the city of Richmond. The others are located in neighboring Henrico and Hanover counties. In February 2006, MeadWestvaco announced a 2008 move from Stamford, Connecticut, to Richmond with assistance from the Greater Richmond Partnership, a regional economic development organization that also helped locate Aditya Birla Minacs, Amazon.com, and Honeywell International to the region. In 2008, Altria moved its corporate HQ from New York City to Henrico County. In July 2015, MeadWestvaco merged with Georgia-based Rock-Tenn Company creating WestRock Company.

Other Fortune 500 companies without headquarters but with a significant presence in the Richmond area include SunTrust Banks (based in Atlanta), Capital One (officially based in McLean, Virginia, but founded in and with its operations center and most employees in the Richmond area), and medical and pharmaceutical giant McKesson Corporation (based in Las Colinas, Texas). Thermo Fisher Scientific came to the Richmond area in December 2021 when it acquired the contract research organization PPD. Capital One and Philip Morris USA are two of the largest private Richmond-area employers. DuPont maintains a production facility in South Richmond known as the Spruance Plant. UPS Freight, the less-than-truckload division of United Parcel Service has its corporate headquarters in Richmond.

Other companies based in Richmond include engineering specialists CTI Consultants; chemical company NewMarket; Brink's, the security and armored car company; Estes Express Lines, a freight carrier; Universal Corporation, a tobacco merchant; Cavalier Telephone, now Windstream, a telephone, internet, and digital television provider formed in Richmond in 1998; Cherry Bekaert & Holland, a top 30 accounting firm serving the Southeast; the law firm of McGuireWoods; Elephant Insurance, an insurance company subsidiary of Admiral Group; and Media General, a company specializing in broadcast media.

Poverty

As of 2016, 24.8% of Richmond residents live below the federal poverty line, the second-highest among the 30 largest cities and counties in Virginia. An Annie E. Casey Foundation report issued in 2016 also determined that Richmond had a child poverty rate of 39%, more than double the rate for Virginia as a whole. As of 2016, Richmond had the second-highest rate of eviction filings and judgments of any American city with a population of 100,000 or more (in states where complete data was available). Some Richmond neighborhoods, such as the Creighton Court public-housing complex, are particularly well known for concentrations of poverty.

Arts and culture

Museums and monuments

Several of the city's large general museums are located on or near Arthur Ashe Boulevard, in what is referred to as the Museum District. The Virginia Historical Society and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts are on the Boulevard. Nearby is the Science Museum of Virginia, housed on Broad Street in the neoclassical former 1919 Broad Street Union Station. Immediately adjacent is the Children's Museum of Richmond, and two blocks away is the Virginia Center for Architecture. Downtown has the Library of Virginia and the Valentine Richmond History Center. The city also has the Virginia Holocaust Museum and the Old Dominion Railway Museum.

Richmond is home to several American Civil War museums and battlefields. The Richmond National Battlefield Park Visitors Center and the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar are near the riverfront, both housed in the former buildings of the Tredegar Iron Works, where much of the South's war ordnance was produced. In Court End, near the Virginia State Capitol, is the Museum of the Confederacy and the Davis Mansion, also known as the Confederacy's White House. Both feature a wide variety of objects and material from the era. The temporary home of General Robert E. Lee still stands Downtown on Franklin Street.

The history of slavery and emancipation are increasingly being represented in the city. There is a former slave trail along the river that leads to Ancarrow's Boat Ramp and Historic Site, which has been developed with interpretive signage. In 2007, the Reconciliation Statue was placed in Shockoe Bottom, with corresponding statues installed in Liverpool and Benin representing points in the Triangle Trade. Most of the statues honoring Confederate leaders on Monument Avenue were removed during or after the racial justice protests of June 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Contemporaneously, protestors also toppled the monument to Christopher Columbus, whose reputation has suffered for his treatment of indigenous people, throwing it in Fountain Lake on June 9, 2020. The city removed the last Confederate statue, honoring General A. P. Hill, on December 12, 2022. The only statue remaining on Memorial Avenue is of Arthur Ashe, the pioneering Black tennis player. The Bill "Bojangles" Robinson monument in Jackson Ward was untouched during the protests and remains in place.

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, student, and successful writer. The John Marshall House, home of the former Chief Justice of the United States, is also Downtown and features many of his writings and objects from his life. Hollywood Cemetery is where two U.S. Presidents and many Civil War officers and soldiers are buried. Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives collects, preserves, and exhibits materials that focus on Jewish history and culture specifically connected to Richmond.

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

Agecroft Hall is a Tudor manor house and estate located on the James River in the Windsor Farms neighborhood of Richmond. The manor house was built in the late 15th century and was originally located in the Agecroft area of Pendlebury, in the historic county of Lancashire in England.

Visual and performing arts

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Murals

With the Richmond Mural Project (RMP), sponsored by RVA Mag and Art Whino, and 2013's RVA Street Art Festival, the city quickly gained more than 100 murals created by international mural artists, such as Aryz, Roa, Ron English, and Natalia Rak. While the RMP focused on international talent, the RVA Street Art Festival, led by long-time local mural artist Ed Trask, focused mainly on regional artists, although it was responsible for PoseMSK, Jeff Soto, and Mark Jenkins. After some criticism, the RMP included its first local artist, Nils Westergard, who already was on the international circuit, and then another, Jacob Eveland. The two festivals were unrelated, and the RMP is now defunct. The RVA Street Art Festival occurs as funding permits. In response to the George Floyd protests of the summer of 2020, local artist Hamilton Glass spearheaded the Mending Walls Project, featuring walls by pairs of local artists.

Professional performing companies

From their earliest days, Virginia and Richmond welcomed live theatrical performances. Lewis Hallam staged early Shakespeare productions in Williamsburg, and Richmond became a prominent colonial and early 19th century performance place for celebrated American and English actors, like William Macready, Edwin Forrest, and the Booth family. In the 20th century, Richmond had many amateur troupes and regular touring professional productions. The city's principal performing arts groups include the Virginia Repertory Theatre, Richmond Ballet, Richmond Triangle Players, Richmond Symphony, and Virginia Opera.

Other venues and companies include:

• Altria Theater, the city-owned opera house
• The Byrd Theatre in Carytown, a 1920s movie palace that features second-run movies and hosts the French Film Festival
• Leslie Cheek Theater at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
• Dogwood Dell, an amphitheater in Byrd Park
• National Theater
• Dominion Energy Center, which includes the Carpenter Theater
• School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community
• Virginia Credit Union Live!

Commercial art galleries include Metro Space Gallery and Gallery 5 in a newly designated arts district. Not-for-profit galleries include Visual Arts Center of Richmond, 1708 Gallery, and Artspace.

In 2008, a new 47,000 sq ft (4,400 m²) Gay Community Center opened on the city's north side. It hosts meetings of many kinds and includes a large art gallery space.

Literary arts

Richmond has long been a hub for literature and writers. Edgar Allan Poe grew up in the city, and the city's oldest stone house is a museum to his life and works. The Southern Literary Messenger, which included his writing, is one of many notable publications started in Richmond. Other noteworthy authors who have called Richmond home include Pulitzer-winning Ellen Glasgow, controversial figure James Branch Cabell, Meg Medina, Dean King, David L. Robbins, and MacArthur Fellow Paule Marshall. Tom Wolfe was born in Richmond, as was Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. David Baldacci graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University, where the creative writing faculty has included Marshall, Claudia Emerson, Kathleen Graber, T. R. Hummer, Dave Smith, David Wojahn, and Susann Cokal. Notable graduates include Sheri Reynolds, Jon Pineda, Anna Journey and Joshua Poteat. A community-based organization, James River Writers, serves the Greater Richmond Region. It sponsors many writer programs for all career stages, and an annual writers' conference that draws attendees from near and far.

Architecture

Richmond is home to many significant structures, including some designed by notable architects. The city contains diverse styles, including significant examples of Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Neoclassical, Egyptian Revival, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, Tudor Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Art Deco, Modernist, International, and Postmodern buildings.

Much of Richmond's early architecture was destroyed by the Evacuation Fire in 1865. It is estimated that 25% of all buildings in Richmond were destroyed during this fire. Even fewer now remain due to construction and demolition that has taken place since Reconstruction. In spite of this, Richmond contains many historically significant buildings and districts. Buildings remain from Richmond's colonial period, such as the Patteson-Schutte House and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond, Virginia), both built before 1750.

Architectural classicism is heavily represented in all districts of the city, particularly in Downtown, the Fan, and the Museum District. Several notable classical architects have designed buildings in Richmond. The Virginia State Capitol was designed by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau in 1785. It is the second-oldest US statehouse in continuous use (after Maryland's) and was the first US government building built in the neo-classical style of architecture, setting the trend for other state houses and the federal government buildings (including the White House and The Capitol) in Washington, D.C. Robert Mills designed Monumental Church on Broad Street. Adjoining it is the 1845 Egyptian Building, one of the few Egyptian Revival buildings in the United States.

The firm of John Russell Pope designed Broad Street Station as well as Branch House on Monument Avenue, designed as a private residence in the Tudor style, now serving as the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. Broad Street Station (or Union Station), designed in the Beaux-Arts style, is no longer a functioning station but is now home to the Science Museum of Virginia. Main Street Station, designed by Wilson, Harris, and Richards, has been returned to use in its original purpose. The Jefferson Hotel and the Commonwealth Club were both designed by the classically trained Beaux-Arts architects Carrère and Hastings. Many buildings on the University of Richmond campus, including Jeter Hall and Ryland Hall, were designed by Ralph Adams Cram, most famous for his Princeton University Chapel and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

Richmond's urban residential neighborhoods also hold particular significance to the city's fabric. The Fan, the Museum District, Jackson Ward, Carver, Carytown, Oregon Hill and Church Hill (among others) are largely single use town homes and mixed use or full retail/dining establishments. These districts are anchored by large streets such as Franklin Street, Cary Street, the Boulevard, and Monument Avenue. The city's growth in population over the last decade has been concentrated in these areas.

Among Richmond's most interesting architectural features is its Cast-iron architecture. Second only to New Orleans in its concentration of cast iron work, the city is home to a unique collection of cast iron porches, balconies, fences, and finials. Richmond's position as a center of iron production helped to fuel its popularity within the city. At the height of production in the 1890, 25 foundries operated in the city employing nearly 3,500 metal workers. This number is seven times the number of general construction workers being employed in Richmond at the time which illustrates the importance of its iron exports. Porches and fences in urban neighborhoods such as Jackson Ward, Church Hill, and Monroe Ward are particularly elaborate, often featuring ornate iron casts never replicated outside of Richmond. In some cases cast were made for a single residential or commercial application.

Richmond is home to several notable instances of various styles of modernism. Minoru Yamasaki designed the Federal Reserve Building which dominates the downtown skyline. The architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has designed two buildings: the Library of Virginia and the General Assembly Offices at the Eighth and Main Building. Philip Johnson designed the WRVA Building. The Richard Neutra-designed Rice House, a residence on a private island on the James River, remains Richmond's only true International Style home. The W.G. Harris residence in Richmond was designed by famed early modern architect and member of the Harvard Five, Landis Gores. Other notable architects to have worked in the city include Rick Mather, I.M. Pei, and Gordon Bunshaft.

VCU is currently raising funds for a new Institute of Contemporary Arts designed by Steven Holl. The ICA is funded by private donors and is scheduled to open in late 2017.

Historic districts

Richmond's City Code provides for the creation of old and historic districts to "recognize and protect the historic, architectural, cultural, and artistic heritage of the City". Pursuant to that authority, the city has designated 45 districts. Most districts also are listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register ("VLR") and the National Register of Historic Places ("NRHP").

Fifteen districts represent broad sections of the city:

Historic District	City	VLR	NRHP
Boulevard (Grace St. to Idlewood Ave)	1992	1986	1986
Broad Street (Belvidere St. to First St.)	1985	1986	1987 2004 2007
Chimborazo Park (32nd to 36th Sts. & Marshall St. to Chimborazo Park)	1987	2004	2005
Church Hill North (Marshall to Cedar Sts. & Jefferson Ave. to N. 29th St.)	2007	1996	1997 2000
Hermitage Road (Laburnum Ave. to Westbrook Ave.)	1988	2005	2006
Jackson Ward (Belvidere to 2nd Sts. & Jackson to Marshall Sts.)	1987	1976	1976
Monument Avenue (Birch St. to Roseneath Rd.)	1971	1969	1970
St. John's Church (21st to 32nd Sts. & Broad to Franklin Sts.)	1957	1969	1966
Shockoe Slip (12th to 15th Sts. & Main to Canal/Dock Sts.)	1979	1971	1972
Shockoe Valley (18th to 21st Sts. & Marshall to Franklin Sts.)	1977	1981	1983
Springhill (19th to 22nd Sts. & Riverside Dr. to Semmes Ave.)	2006	2013	2014
200 Block West Franklin Street (Madison to Jefferson Sts.)	1977	1977	1977
West Franklin Street (Birch to Harrison Sts.)	1990	1972	1972
West Grace Street (Ryland St. to Boulevard)	1996	1997	1998
Zero Blocks East and West Franklin (Adams to First Sts. & Grace to Main Sts.)	1987	1979	1980

The remaining thirty districts are limited to an individual building or group of buildings throughout the city:

Historic District	VLR	NRHP
The Barret House (15 South Fifth Street)	1971	1972
Belgian Building (Lombardy Street and Brook Road)	1969	1970
Bolling Haxall House (211 East Franklin Street)	1971	1972
Centenary United Methodist Church (409 East Grace Street)	1979	1979
Crozet House (100–102 East Main Street)	1971	1972
Glasgow House (1 West Main Street)	1972	1972
Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House (2 North Fifth Street)	1969	1970 2008
Henry Coalter Cabell House (116 South Third Street)	1971	1971
Jefferson Hotel (114 West Main Street)	1968	1969
John Marshall House (818 East Marshall Street)	1969	1966
Leigh Street Baptist Church (East Leigh and Twenty-Fifth Streets)	1971	1972
Linden Row (100–114 East Franklin Street)	1971	1971
Mayo Memorial House (110 West Franklin Street)	1972	1973
William W. Morien House (2226 West Main Street)
Norman Stewart House (707 East Franklin Street)	1972	1972
Old Stone House (1916 East Main Street)	1973	1973
Pace House (100 West Franklin Street)
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Northwest corner South Laurel Street and Idlewood Avenue)	1979	1979
St. Paul's Episcopal Church (815 East Grace Street)	1968	1969
St. Peter's Catholic Church (800 East Grace Street)	1968	1969
Second Presbyterian Church (9 North Fifth Street)	1971	1972
Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church (12–14 West Duval Street)	1996	1996
Stonewall Jackson School (1520 West Main Street)	1984	1984
Talavera (2315 West Grace Street)
Valentine Museum and Wickham-Valentine House (1005–1015 East Clay Street)	1968	1969
Virginia House (4301 Sulgrave Road)	1989	1990
White House of the Confederacy (1200 East Clay Street)	1969	1966
Wilton (215 South Wilton Road)	1975	1976
Joseph P. Winston House (103 East Grace Street)	1978	1979
Woodward House-Rockets (3017 Williamsburg Avenue)	1974	1974

Food

Richmond has been recognized in recent years as a "foodie city", particularly for its modern renditions of traditional Southern cuisine. The city also claims the invention of the sailor sandwich, which includes pastrami, knockwurst, Swiss cheese and mustard on rye bread. Richmond is where canned beer was first made commercially available in 1935.

Sports

Richmond does not have a major league professional sports team. Since 2013, however, the Washington Commanders of the National Football League have held their summer training camp in the city. The city has several minor league sports franchises, including the Richmond Kickers of USL League One and the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Class AA Double-A Northeast of Minor League Baseball, a San Francisco Giants affiliate. The Kickers began playing in Richmond in 1993, making them the oldest continually operated professional club in the United States. The club now plays home matches at City Stadium. In 2018, the Richmond Kickers left the USL to be founders in Division 3 Soccer. The Squirrels opened their first season at The Diamond on April 15, 2010. From 1966 through 2008, the city was home to the Richmond Braves, a AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball, until the franchise relocated to Georgia.

Richmond is home to the Richmond Black Widows, the city's first women's football team, founded in 2015 by Sarah Schkeeper. The team is in the Women's Football Alliance, which preseason begins in January and regular season in April.

A significant city sports venue is the 6,000-seat Arthur Ashe Athletic Center, a multi-purpose arena named for tennis great and Richmond resident Arthur Ashe. This facility hosts local sporting events, concerts, and other activities. Tennis is popular in Richmond. In 2010, the United States Tennis Association named Richmond the third "Best Tennis Town", after Charleston, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia.

Auto racing is also popular in the area. The Richmond Raceway (RR) has hosted NASCAR Cup Series races since 1953, and the Capital City 400 from 1962 to 1980. RR also hosted IndyCar's SunTrust Indy Challenge from 2001 to 2009. Another track, Southside Speedway, has operated since 1959 and sits just southwest of Richmond in Chesterfield County. This .333 mi (0.536 km) oval short-track is known as the "Toughest Track in the South" and "The Action Track", featuring weekly stock car racing Friday nights. Southside Speedway has seen many NASCAR champions, including Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and Darrell Waltrip. It is the home track of NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin.

Richmond hosted the 2015 UCI Road World Championships, which had cyclists from 76 countries and an estimated beneficial $158.1 million economic impact on the Greater Richmond Region from event staging and visitor spending. The championship course was the first real-world location to be recreated within the indoor cycle training application, Zwift. The application has subsequently added two other UCI world championships courses, Innsbruck from 2018 and Harrogate from 2019

The city is home to the University of Richmond football team, who most notably won the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS National Championship. The team plays its home games at Robins Stadium.

Richmond also has seen recent men's and women's college basketball success in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Richmond Spiders play at the Robins Center and the VCU Rams play at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

Parks and recreation

The city operates one of the country's oldest municipal park systems. In 1851, the City Council voted to acquire 7.5 acres (30,000 m²), now known as Monroe Park. Monroe Park is adjacent to the Virginia Commonwealth University campus, and is one of over 40 parks totaling more than 1,500 acres (610 ha).

Several parks are along the James River, and the James River Parks System offers bike trails, hiking and nature trails, and many scenic overlooks. The trails are used for the Xterra East Championship running and mountain biking courses of the off-road triathlon.

Parks exist on two major islands in the James River, Belle Isle and Brown's Island. Belle Isle, a former Powhatan fishing village, colonial-era horse race track, and Civil War prison camp, is the larger of the two. It contains many bike trails and a small cliff used for rock climbing instruction. The island still has many remnants of the Civil War prison camp, including an arms storage room and a gun emplacement used to quell prisoner riots. Brown's Island is smaller and a popular venue for many spring and summer free outdoor concerts and festivals, such as the weekly Friday Cheers concert series and the James River Beer and Seafood Festival.

Two other major city parks along the river are Byrd Park and Maymont, located near the Fan District. Byrd Park features a 1 mi (1.6 km) running track, with exercise stops, a public dog park, and a number of small lakes for small boats, as well as two monuments, Buddha house and an amphitheater. The World War I Memorial Carillon, built in 1926, features prominently in the park. Maymont, adjacent to Byrd Park, is a 100-acre (40 ha) Victorian estate with a museum, formal gardens, native wildlife exhibits, nature center, carriage collection, and children's farm. Other city parks include Joseph Bryan Park Azalea Garden, Forest Hill Park (former site of the Forest Hill Amusement Park), and Chimborazo Park (site of the National Battlefield Headquarters).

The James River through Richmond is one of the best urban white-water rafting/canoeing/kayaking sites in the country, and several rafting companies provide related services. The city also has several easily accessed riverside areas for rock-hopping, swimming, and picnicking.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is in adjacent Henrico County. Founded in 1984, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is 80 acres (320,000 m²), one of only two independent public botanical gardens in Virginia, and designated a state botanical garden. A public place for the display and scientific study of plants, it features a glass conservatory, rose garden, healing garden, and accessible-to-all children's garden.

Several theme parks are located near the city, including Kings Dominion to the north, and Busch Gardens to the east, near Williamsburg.

Education

Public schools

The City of Richmond operates 28 elementary schools, nine middle schools, and eight high schools, serving a total student population of 24,000. The city has one Governor's School, the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies. In 2008, it was named one of Newsweek magazine's 18 "public elite" high schools, and rated 16 of America's best high schools in 2012. Richmond's public school district also runs one of Virginia's four public charter schools, the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, founded in 2010. The 2020 class had an on-time graduation rate of 71.6%, at least 20 percentage points behind most other school divisions, making it the worst in the state.

Private schools

As of 2008, there were 36 private schools serving grades one or higher in the City of Richmond. Some of these schools include: Banner Christian School; St. Bridget School; Brook Road Academy; Collegiate School; Grace Christian School; Grove Christian School; Guardian Christian Academy; St. Christopher's School; St. Catherine's School; Southside Baptist Christian School; Northstar Academy; The Steward School; Trinity Episcopal School; The New Community School; and Veritas School.

The city's only Catholic high school is Cristo Rey Richmond High School, after Benedictine College Preparatory and St. Gertrude High School relocated to a combined campus in Goochland.

Colleges and universities

The Richmond area has many major institutions of higher education, including Virginia Commonwealth University (public), University of Richmond (private), Virginia Union University (private), South University–Richmond (private, for-profit), Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education (private), and the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond (BTSR—private). Several community colleges are in the metro area, including J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and Brightpoint Community College (Chesterfield County). Several technical colleges are in Richmond, including ITT Technical Institute, ECPI College of Technology, and Centura College. The same is true of vocational colleges, including Fortis College and Bryant Stratton College.

Virginia State University is located about 20 mi (32 km) south of Richmond, in Ettrick, just outside Petersburg. Randolph-Macon College is located about 15 mi (24 km) north of Richmond, in Ashland.

Media

The Richmond Times-Dispatch, owned by Lee Enterprises, Inc., is the local daily newspaper, with a Sunday circulation of 120,000. Style Weekly, an online alternative local publication owned by VPM Media Corporation, covers popular culture, arts, and entertainment. RVA Magazine is the city's only independent art music and culture publication. Originally a quarterly, it now is a monthly. The Richmond Free Press and the Voice cover the news from an African-American perspective.

The Richmond metro area is served by many local television and radio stations. As of 2010^[update], the Richmond-Petersburg designated market area (DMA) is the 58th largest in the U.S. with 553,950 homes according to Nielsen Market Research. The major network television affiliates are WTVR-TV 6 (CBS), WRIC-TV 8 (ABC), WWBT 12 (NBC), WRLH-TV 35 (Fox), and WUPV 65 (CW). PBS stations include WCVE-TV 23 and WCVW 57. There also are a wide variety of radio stations in the Richmond area, catering to many different interests, including news, talk radio, and sports, as well as an eclectic mix of musical interests. Richmond enjoys a low power FM Station, WRIR, which features all-volunteer community supported radio at all hours.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The Greater Richmond area is served by the Richmond International Airport (IATA: RIC, ICAO: KRIC), located in Sandston, 7 mi (11 km) southeast of Richmond and within an hour drive of historic Williamsburg, Virginia. Richmond International is served by ten passenger and four cargo airlines, with over 200 daily flights providing non-stop service to major domestic destinations and connecting flights to worldwide destinations. A record 4.8 million passengers used Richmond International Airport in 2023, breaking the previous record of 4.4 million in 2019.

Richmond is a major hub for intercity bus company Greyhound Lines, which has its terminal at 2910 N Boulevard. Multiple daily runs connect directly with Washington, D.C., New York, Raleigh, and elsewhere. Direct trips to New York take approximately 7.5 hours. Discount carrier Megabus provides curbside service from Main Street Station. Direct service is available to Washington, D.C., Hampton Roads, Charlotte, Raleigh, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Connections to Megabus-served cities, such as New York, are made from Washington, D.C.

The Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) provides transit and paratransit bus service in Richmond and Henrico and Chesterfield counties. The GRTC, however, serves only small parts of the suburban counties. The far West End, Innsbrook and Short Pump, and almost all of Chesterfield County have no public transportation, despite dense housing, retail, and office development. According to a 2008 GRTC operations analysis report, a majority of GRTC riders use their services because they do not have available alternatives, such as a private vehicle. In 2014, U.S. Department of Transportation granted Richmond and the surrounding metropolitan area a roughly $25 million grant for the GRTC Pulse bus rapid transit system, which opened in June 2018, running along Broad Street from Willow Lawn to Rocketts Landing.

The Richmond area has two railroad stations served by Amtrak. Each station receives regular service from north of Richmond, including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York. The region's main station, Staples Mill Road Station, is located just outside the city on a major north–south freight line that receives service to and from all points south, including Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Savannah, Newport News, Norfolk and Florida. The historic Main Street Station, renovated in 2004, is the only railway station in the City of Richmond. As of 2010, it only receives trains headed to and from Newport News due to track layout.

Richmond also benefits from an excellent interstate highway position, lying at the junction of east–west Interstate 64 and north–south Interstate 95, two of the most heavily traveled highways in the state. As the state capital, Richmond has great state highway access.

Major highways

Utilities

Dominion Energy supplies the Richmond Metro area's electricity. Headquartered in Richmond, it is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, serving retail energy customers in nine states. Electricity for the Richmond area is primarily produced at the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station, Surry Nuclear Generating Station, and a coal-fired station in Chester, Virginia. These three plants provide a total of 4,453 megawatts of power. Several other natural gas plants provide extra power during peak demands, including facilities in Chester, and Surry, and two in Richmond, Gravel Neck and Darbytown.

Richmond's Department of Public Utilities provides the Richmond Metro area's natural gas, including portions of Henrico and Chesterfield counties. It also supplies water to the city and surrounding area through wholesale contracts with Henrico, Chesterfield, and Hanover counties. The DPU is one of Virginia's largest water producers, providing water to approximately 500,000 people, including 62,000 city customers, through a distribution system of water mains, pumping stations, storage facilities, and a modern plant that can treat up to 132 million gallons daily from the James River.

The wastewater treatment plant is on the James River's south bank. It can treat up to 70 million gallons of water per day of sanitary sewage and stormwater before returning it to the river. The wastewater utility also operates and maintains 1,500 mi (2,400 km) of sanitary sewer and pumping stations, 38 mi (61 km) of intercepting sewer lines, and the Shockoe Retention Basin, a 44-million-gallon stormwater reservoir used during heavy rains.

Sister cities

Richmond's sister cities are:

• Richmond upon Thames, United Kingdom
• Saitama, Japan
• Ségou, Mali
• Windhoek, Namibia
• Zhengzhou, China

See also

In Spanish: Richmond (Virginia) para niños