Timeline of Richmond, Virginia

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Richmond, Virginia, USA.

This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

17th century

• 1607 (May) - Capt. Christopher Newport leads a party of Englishmen on an exploration and they first visit "Pawatah", one of the capitals of the Powhatan Confederacy, at Shockoe hill overlooking the falls.
• 1608 (September) - Newport returns to the falls with 120 soldiers, to explore the Monacan country upriver.^[1]
• 1609 (September) - Captain John Smith, now President of Virginia Colony, sends another force of 120 men under Francis West to settle "West's Fort" in what is now the Rockett's neighborhood; Smith then purchases the Powhatan village from the chief Parahunt and renames it "Nonsuch", however the native inhabitants resist the settlers, forcing them to return to Jamestown.
• 1610-1614 - First Anglo-Powhatan War
• 1610 (Fall) - Lord De La Warr, brother of Francis West and now Colony governor, makes another attempt to establish a fort at the falls, but it too is abandoned in early 1611.
• 1611 - The English establish Henricus a few miles downstream and make no further attempt to occupy the falls of the James for the time being.
• 1622 - Henricus abandoned after Indian Massacre of 1622
• 1644-1645 - Second Anglo-Powhatan War
• 1645 - Fort Charles built at falls
• 1646 - Peace Treaty ending war gives English control of territory as far west as Mowhemencho, now Bernard's Creek on the James
• 1647 - Location of Fort Charles moved to "Manastoh", now Southside Richmond.
• 1656 - Mahocks, Nahyssans and Rehecrechians, recently defeated by the Five Nations in the Beaver Wars, camp at what is now called Bloody Run. They are driven off by a combined force of English and Pamunkey, but the Pamunkey chief Totopotomoi is slain.
• 1673 - William Byrd I is granted lands at the falls and establishes a trading post and small settlement
• 1699 - The Monacan abandon their town Mowhemencho, moving to North Carolina to escape Iroquois pressure.

18th century

• 1700 - French Huguenot colonists are settled in the recently abandoned Monacan regions, to be a buffer between the Indians and English, and they build Mannakin Town, now Manakin-Sabot.
• 1704 William Byrd II inherits his father's estates
• 1733 - Richmond founded by William Byrd II.
• 1737 - Street grid laid out.^[2]
• 1741 - St. John's Episcopal Church built.
• 1742 - Town incorporated.^[2]
• 1750 - Old Stone House built (approximate date).
• 1775 - Second Virginia Convention held.
• 1780
  • Virginia capital moves to Richmond from Williamsburg.
  • First Baptist Church established.
• 1785
  • Virginia State Capitol building constructed.
  • Mason's Hall built.
• 1786 - Theatre opens.
• 1788
  • Virginia Ratifying Convention held.
  • Amicable Society organized.^[3]

19th century

• 1810 - Theatre built.
• 1811
  • Richmond Theatre fire
  • Virginia Governor's Mansion built.
• 1814 - Monumental Church built.
• 1815 - Richmond Enquirer newspaper begins publication.^[4]
• 1823
  • State Library founded.^[5]
  • Colonization Society of Virginia formed.^[6]
• 1830 - Population: 6,056.^[7]
• 1831 - Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society founded.
• 1832 - Richmond College opens.^[2]
• 1834 - Typographical Society formed.^[8]
• 1837 - Tredegar Iron Works in business.
• 1838
  • Richmond and Petersburg Railroad Bridge opens.
  • Medical College of Virginia founded.^[2]
• 1841
  • First African Baptist Church founded.
  • Richmond Library Association formed.^[5]
• 1843 - Saint John's German Lutheran Evangelical Church founded.
• 1845 - Second Presbyterian Church founded.^[9]
• 1849 - Hollywood Cemetery established.
• 1851
  • Monroe Park laid out.
  • James River and Kanawha Canal built.
• 1852
  • Gesangverein Virginia formed.^[10]
  • Virginia State Agricultural Society organized.^[11]
• 1854
  • Virginia Mechanics Institute founded.^[12]
  • Woman's College opens.^[2]
• 1856
  • Richmond and Danville Railroad in operation.
  • Oakwood Cemetery established.
• 1858 - Washington Monument unveiled.
• 1861

• • Richmond becomes capital of Confederate States of America.
  • Chimborazo Hospital opens.^[13]
  • Libby Prison in operation.
• 1863 - April 2: Bread riot.^[14]
• 1865 - April - City captured by Union forces.
  • April 3 - Richmond business district burned by retreating Confederate forces.^[15]
• 1866 - Richmond National Cemetery established.
• 1867 - Colver Institute organized.
• 1877 - Westmoreland Club formed.^[16]
• 1880 - Richmond and Alleghany Railroad begins operating.
• 1882 - New Reservoir Park opens (approximate date).^[17]
• 1883 - Hartshorn Memorial College opens.^[18]
• 1885 - Miller, Rhoads, & Gerhart in business.
• 1886 - Richmond Daily Times begins publication.
• 1888
  • Richmond Union Passenger Railway in operation.
  • The Richmond News Leader newspaper begins publication.
• 1889 - Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities founded.^[19]
• 1891 - Rosemary Library Association chartered.^[20]
• 1894
  • City Hall built.
  • Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument unveiled.^[21]
• 1895 - Jefferson Hotel opens.
• 1896 - Confederate Museum opens.
• 1898
  • Valentine Museum opens.^[20]
  • Union Theological Seminary relocates to Richmond.
• 1899 - Virginia Union University formed.

20th century

• 1900 - Population: 85,050.
• 1901 - Main Street Station built.
• 1903
  • Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper begins publication.
  • The Richmond News Leader newspaper begins publication.
  • St. Luke Penny Savings Bank chartered.^[22]
• 1905
  • Cathedral of the Sacred Heart built.
  • Richmond Public Library Association formed.^[23]
• 1908 - Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club formed.
• 1909 - Virginia Railway & Power Company formed.
• 1910
  • Manchester becomes part of city.
  • Population: 127,628.
• 1912 - George Ainslie becomes mayor.
• 1913
  • Society for the Betterment of Housing and Living Conditions incorporated.^[24]
  • Confederate Memorial Institute built.^[25][26]
• 1914
  • Fifth District of the Federal Reserve Bank headquartered in Richmond.
  • Richmond College moves to site of former Westhampton Amusement Park;^[27] Westhampton College for women opens.^[28]
  • Barton Heights, Ginter Park, and Highland Park become part of city.
• 1917
  • Broad Street Station built.
  • Richmond School of Social Economy opens.
• 1922 - Edgar Allan Poe Museum opens.
• 1924 - John Fulmer Bright becomes mayor.
• 1925
  • WRVA begins broadcasting.
  • Church Hill Tunnel collapses.
  • Boulevard Bridge opens.
• 1926
  • Agecroft Hall shipped from England and reassembled in Richmond.
  • Acca Temple Shrine built.
• 1927 - Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field dedicated.
• 1928
  • Byrd Theatre opens.
  • Loew's Theatre opens.
• 1929 - Warwick Priory shipped from England and reassmbled as Virginia House in Richmond.
• 1936
  • Richmond National Battlefield Park established.
  • Virginia Museum of Fine Arts opens.
• 1948 - WTVR-TV begins broadcasting.
• 1950 - Population: 230,310.
• 1952 - Wilton House Museum opens.
• 1955
  • Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane occur.
  • Virginia War Memorial installed.
• 1956
  • Historic Richmond Foundation established.
  • Willow Lawn Shopping Center opens.
• 1957 - Richmond Symphony Orchestra formed.
• 1958 - Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike opens.
• 1964 - Congregation Kol Emes founded.
• 1966
  • Richmond Braves baseball team formed.
  • Richmond Metropolitan Authority established.
• 1968 - Virginia Commonwealth University formed.
• 1969 - Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in business.
• 1970 - Science Museum of Virginia established.
• 1972 - June - Hurricane Agnes
• 1975
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond built.
  • Regency Square shopping mall opens.
• 1976 - Virginia State Route 195 constructed.
• 1977
  • Henry L. Marsh becomes mayor.
  • Theatre IV (children's theatre) active.
  • Richmond Children's Museum organized.
• 1979 - Richmond Jewish Foundation established.
• 1983 - Dominion Resources, Inc. in business.
• 1985 - 6th Street Marketplace opens.
• 1990 - January 13: Douglas Wilder sworn in as governor.^[29]
• 1993 - VCU French Film Festival begins.
• 1995
  • Landmark Theater refurbished.
  • Flood wall built.
• 1997 - Project Exile begins.

21st century

• 2002
  • MeadWestvaco established.
  • Convention Center opens.
• 2003
  • Stony Point Fashion Park opens.
  • Philip Morris USA headquartered in Richmond.
• 2004 - Hurricane Gaston.
• 2005
  • Douglas Wilder becomes mayor.
  • Gallery 5 opens.^[30]
  • RVA Magazine begins publication.
  • Virginia Center for Architecture opens.
• 2006
  • American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar opens.
  • 2006 Richmond spree murders
  • RavenCon science fiction convention begins.
• 2008 - Richmond Folk Festival begins.
• 2009
  • Dwight Clinton Jones becomes mayor.
  • Richmond CenterStage inaugurated.
• 2010 - Population: 204,214.
• 2012 - Virginia Repertory Theatre formed.^[31]

See also

• History of Richmond, Virginia
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Richmond, Virginia
• Neighborhoods of Richmond, Virginia
• List of mayors of Richmond, Virginia
• Timeline of Norfolk, Virginia

References

Further reading

• Jedidiah Morse (1797), "Richmond", The American gazetteer, Boston: At the presses of S. Hall, and Thomas & Andrews 

Published in the 19th century

• Richard Edwards (1855), "Richmond", Statistical gazetteer of the state of Virginia, Richmond: Published for the proprietor 
• Samuel Mordecai (1856), Richmond in by-gone days, Richmond, Va: George M. West 
• R.H. Long (1863), "Richmond", Hunt's Gazetteer of the Border and Southern States, Pittsburgh, Pa.: John P. Hunt 
• Joseph Sabin, ed. (1888). "Richmond, Virginia". Bibliotheca Americana 17. New York. OCLC 13972268. 
• Watkins Norvell (1896), Richmond, Virginia: colonial, revolutionary, confederate and the present, Richmond, Va: E. B. Brown, OCLC 5423613 

Published in the 20th century

• William Wirt Henry (1904), "Richmond on the James", in Lyman P. Powell, Historic Towns of the Southern States, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons 
• Virginia. Dept. of Agriculture and Immigration (1906), "Richmond", A Handbook of Virginia: Information for the Homeseeker and Investor, Lynchburg, Va: J. P. Bell Co., OCLC 6466827 
• Richmond guide book, Richmond, Va.: M. A. Burgess, 1909 
• Edward Hungerford (1913), "City of the 7 Hills", The Personality of American Cities, New York: McBride, Nast & Company 
• Richmond Chamber of Commerce (1913), Richmond, Virginia, yesterday and today, Richmond: Whittet & Shepperson, printers, OCLC 6214750 
• Louise Nurney Kernodle (1918). Guide Book of the City of Richmond. 
• Directory of Business and Professional Women. 1921
• "City of Richmond, Virginia". The Modern City (League of American Municipalities) 7. Nov 1922. 
• Trudy Ring and Robert M. Salkin, ed. (1995). "Richmond". Americas. International Dictionary of Historic Places. Routledge. p. 542+. ISBN 978-1-134-25930-4. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richmond, Virginia.

• Digital Public Library of America. Works related to Richmond, VA, various dates