RICHMOND 



5012 



RICHMOND 



tween 1910 and 1916. The area of the city is 

 over twenty square miles. 



Situation and Parks. Modern Rome, as 

 Richmond has been called, is a name suggested 

 by the city's location upon hills (the original 

 number was seven), which rise in terracelike 

 formations from the river to an elevation of 

 250 feet above sea level. The higher points 

 afford beautiful views of the river, with its 

 many islands and bridges. The public parks 

 contain 639 acres; Bryan Park, 263 acres, and 

 William Byrd Park, 300 acres, are the largest. 

 Gamble's Hill Park has an especially fine out- 

 look; in the river below is Belle Isle, the site 

 of the Old Dominion Iron and Nail Works, 

 once used as a Federal prison; and from here 

 also may be seen the famous Tredegar works, 

 the principal iron foundry in the city, estab- 

 lished during the War of Secession. In this 

 factory cannon were made for the Confederacy. 

 Libby Park extends from Main Street to the 

 summit of Libby Hill, where stands a splendid 

 monument to Confederate soldiers and sailors. 

 Monroe, Jefferson and Marshall are smaller 

 parks. Chimborazo, a park of thirty acres, was 

 once the site of a Confederate hospital, and 

 from here one of the city's finest roads extends 

 five miles southeast to the National Cemetery, 

 at Seven Pines. 



Cemeteries. One of the city's favorite drives 

 leads to Hollywood, where 18,000 Confederate 

 soldiers lie buried, and here, erected to their 

 memory, is a granite pyramid ninety feet high, 

 partly covered by Virginia creeper and ivy. 

 Here are the graves of some of Virginia's most 

 illustrious dead, among them John Tyler, James 

 Monroe, John Randolph, Jefferson Davis and 

 many Confederate generals. In Oakwood, north- 

 east of the city, are several thousand Confed- 

 erate graves. Richmond has also Shockoe Hill 

 (the oldest) and Riverview and Mount Cal- 

 vary cemeteries. In the National Cemetery are 

 6,553 graves of Union soldiers who lost their 

 lives in the struggles about Richmond. Of 

 these graves, 5,700 are burial places of the un- 

 known dead. 



Public Buildings. Historic associations, even 

 more than architectural merit, distinguish the 

 prominent buildings of Richmond. In the heart 

 of the city, on Shockoe Hill, stands the state 

 capitol, surrounded by Capitol Square Park, 

 twelve acres in extent. Thomas Jefferson, while 

 minister to France, secured the model and plans 

 for this building, which were designed from an 

 ancient Roman temple, the Maison Carree, at 

 Nimes. The structure was begun in 1785 and 



was four years in building. Some consistent re- 

 modeling, including the addition of east and 

 west wings, was accomplished as the result of 

 a state appropriation made in 1903. The origi- 

 nal model is preserved. The building contains 

 Houdon's marble statue of George Washington 

 and a bust of Lafayette by the same sculptor. 

 Saint John's Episcopal Church, built in 1740 and 

 later enlarged, is still used for religious serv- 

 ices. In the old churchyard which surrounds 

 the building is the grave of George Wythe, one 

 of those who signed the Declaration of Inde- 

 pendence. In Saint John's Church, in 1775, at 

 the Virginia Convention which met to hear the 

 report of the first Continental Congress, Patrick 

 Henry made his stirring speech including the 

 famous words: "Is life so dear, or peace so 

 sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains 

 and slavery?" 



The oldest building in the city, known as the 

 Stone House, was erected in 1737. It was first 

 a dwelling, and is now used as a historic mu- 

 seum. The home of General Lee's family dur- 

 ing the war, now occupied by the Virginia His- 

 torical Society; the home of Jefferson . Davis 

 while President of the Confederacy, and the 

 old home of Chief Justice Marshall are among 

 the city's treasures. On Broad Street stands 

 Monumental Church, on the site of a large, 

 wooden building in which the Constitution, 

 framed at Philadelphia, was ratified by Vir- 

 ginia. In the Valentine Museum, the house in 

 which Aaron Burr dwelt while on trial in Rich- 

 mond for treason, is a fine collection of his- 

 toric relics, paintings and statuary. 



In Capitol Square are the executive mansion, 

 the state library and the old Bell House. Fac- 

 ing the Square is the finest modern structure 

 in Richmond, the city hall. It is built of gran- 

 ite and cost about $1,400,000. The Masonic 

 Temple (built in 1785), the Chamber of Com- 

 merce, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Union Depot, 

 the soldiers' home and the state penitentiary 

 are other prominent buildings. 



Monuments. Perhaps no American city has 

 finer public monuments than Richmond. Two 

 of the most noteworthy are equestrian statues 

 of George Washington and Robert E. Lee. The 

 first, designed by Thomas Crawford, stands in 

 Capitol Square. The second, designed by the 

 French sculptor Mercie, is in Lee Circle, and 

 represents Lee on his favorite war horse, "Trav- 

 eller." At the western limit of beautiful Monu- 

 ment Avenue is a fine Jefferson Davis monu- 

 ment, and at the eastern limit is the equestrian 

 statue of General J. E. B. Stuart. The How- 



