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Neighborhoods Of Richmond, Virginia(External links for some of the following areas can be found at http://www.richmondneighborhoods.org/maps1.html ) Church_Hill The historic district of Church Hill encompasses the original land plat of the city of Richmond. There Patrick Henry gave his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech in Saint John's Church. Chimborazo Park occupies the former site of the largest Civil War Hospital. Church Hill is notable as one of the largest extant 19th century neighborhoods in America, with many fine examples of period architecture. This area has undergone significant urban renewal in recent years. Carver Carytown/Museum District Carytown is a residential and commercial area that generally consists of 1920s era homes and privately owned shops, clothing stores, cafes, and restaurants along Cary Street. The Byrd Theater, located in this district, is a historic 1920s era movie palace that shows second run movies and that offers periodic performances of its Wurlitzer organ. The Museum District is located just west of the Fan district and north of Carytown. Historically, this area was a site where many Confederate Soldiers were trained during the American Civil War. Some large institutions in this district are the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the world headquarters for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, The Science Museum of Virginia, and the Virginia Historical Society. Jackson Ward Jackson Ward is an historically black neighborhood that at one time was known as the "Harlem of the South. " A center for black commerce and entertainment, it was frequented by the likes of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and James Brown. Jackson Ward was also home to Maggie L. Walker, the first women to charter and serve as president of an American bank. The Maggie L. Walker House is now a U.S. National Historic Site. During the construction of the Eisenhower Interstate highway system in the 1950s Jackson Ward was split in two, much to the detriment of the neighborhood. In the early 2000s, a the Greater Richmond Convention Center and Visitors Bureau was built downtown Richmond, spurring redevelopment of Jackson Ward with cafes, restaurants, and the Hippodrome Theater. Manchester Manchester is an industrial area directly south of downtown Richmond across the James River from the Canal Walk. Not to be confused with the Manchester area of Chesterfield County, Manchester (also known as Old Manchester and South Richmond) has a distinguished history of its own. Originally known as Rocky Ridge, for over 200 years, Manchester was a separate town and later independent city on the south bank of the James River across from Richmond. It was commercially successful due to its agricultural mills and docks, where coal from the Midlothian area 13 miles west was transported on the Chesterfield Railroad, the first in Virginia, beginning in 1831. The City of Manchester merged with Richmond in 1910. In current times, the Manchester section of Richmond is mostly notable for its development potential. With recent commercial additions such as Overnight Transportation, Legend Brewery, refurbished industrial building loft condominiums, Sun Trust's Riverview Center, and the Plant Zero Cafe and Art Works Studios, it is seen as an area somewhat slummy yet trendy. The former Richmond and Danville Railroad passenger station in Manchester now houses the Old Dominion Railway Historical Society's museum at 2nd and Hull Streets, near the south end of the Mayo Bridge. North Side Neighborhoods Richmond's North Side is home to many diverse neighborhoods, including Barton Heights, Bellevue, Ginter Park, Hermitage Rd, Highland Park, Sherwood Park, etc. These neighborhoods are made up of houses with a variety of architectural styles, which include Arts and Crafts Bungalows, Victorian, Romanesque Revival, and Queen Anne houses among other styles. The River District In 1999, the City of Richmond completed its canal walk project, a refurbishment of a 1.25 mile segment of the Haxall Canal and the James River & Kanawha canal that had fallen into disuse. Developed as a tourist destination, the area surrounding the Canal Walk was branded by The River District Alliance (RDA) (a 501(c)6 public/private organization) as "The River District." http://www.richmondriverdistrict.com/. The actual boundaries of the River district are not defined, and include some businesses commonly thought to belong to other districts, like Shockoe Bottom and Shockoe Slip. http://www.richmond.com/riverdistrict/clientoutput.cfm?id=3280073 Similar Canal Walks were built in San Antonio, Texas, and Indianapolis, Indiana. Shockoe Bottom This area, just east of downtown along the James River, became a major nightlife, dining, and entertainment center in the last two decades of the 20th century. After centuries of periodic flooding by the James River, development was greatly stimulated by the completion of Richmond's James River Flood Wall in 1995. Ironically, the next flooding disaster came not from the river, but from Tropical Storm Gaston which brought extensive local tributary flooding along the basin of Shockoe Creek and did extensive damage to this area in 2004, with businesses being shut down and many buildings condemned. Tobacco Row Just east of Shockoe Bottom, Tobacco Row is a collection of tobacco warehouses and cigarette factories adjacent to the James River and Kanawha Canal near its eastern terminus at the head of navigation of the James River. Beginning in the 18th century, many growers and shippers of Virginia's major cash-crop of tobacco maintained facilities there, as well as directly across the river at Manchester. Substantial multi-story brick buildings were constructed to protect the contents from loss due to fire. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Tobacco Row was the site of infamous Libby Prison and nearby Castle Thunder, detention facilities of the Confederate government. The area was vacated by the tobacco companies by the late 1980s. Led by Richmond developer William H. Abeloff, many of the the old warehouses of Tobacco Row were modernized and converted into developments of loft apartments, condominiums, offices, and retail space along part of the restored canal system. Shockoe Slip Shockoe Slip is a collection of tobacco warehouses in which are located shops, restaurants, and offices. The name "slip" refers to the canal boat slips nearby where goods were loaded and unloaded. Shockoe Slip became developed as a commercial and entertainment district in the 1970s. The West End See full article: The West End (Richmond, Virginia)
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