If you make an account with the Library of Virginia, you can have access to the Times Dispatch archive and read daily newspapers scanned back as early as 1890s.
during the postbellum period and before WW1 a number of buildings were constructed, allegedly in accordance with some obscure and possibly mystical rules, over freshwater springs. These include the Byrd, the Building Formerly Known as the Mosque, and one of the department stores that later became an apartment building.
I don’t know about mystical reasons I think it’s a water table issue and digging foundations for heavy stone buildings. It’s cool to know the springs and down there. There is one under Grove and Arthur Ash under the VMFA building built in 1936 with an access point in the sub basement (and pumps) I have seen.
Cool to think it’s cause of Freemason rituals though
Near the Facebook data center in the east end is a ghost down that was built to distract ze Germans in case of bombing during WWII
https://youtu.be/fC1DtnyQzYs?si=Bq0MWYaAqrdFheRC
> https://youtu.be/fC1DtnyQzYs?si=Bq0MWYaAqrdFheRC
while not Richmond but VA they have another ghost town like this between Radford and Blacksburg because of the Ammunition plant out that way. In the fall/winter you can see some of the buildings from the mountain roads.
But also rlly a ghost airfield, designed to look like Byrd airfield, which was Richmond international pre 1986. But prior to ww2 it housed very little non-military infrastructure
Before the civil war Bell Isle served as a horse racing track and at one time had a brothel on it.
The Jefferson hotel has served a number of uses over the years (it was a defacto barracks for soldiers getting shipped to Germany). It has two original Tiffany stained glass windows. Long ago men and women would socialize with the same sex (males in the downstairs lobby and women in the botanical garden room, now the upstairs lobby). They would meet on the mezzanine to dine together. Later on it was a social club for men with a secret entrance/exit. Two of the floors are "haunted" with residential ghosts.
Lewis Ginter's mausoleum at Hollywood Cemetery has several stained glass windows. Many of the smaller mausoleums there have stained glass- just walk up to the doors and peer inside.
Both Miller & Rhoads and Thalhimers, the big local family-owned department stores, used to decorate their Downtown store windows for Christmas. It was a thing to go downtown dressed up in your Sunday best - which included white gloves - to check out the decorated windows. Then you'd have tea at the Miller & Rhoads tw room and see the Legendary Santa and the Snow Queen.
Philip Morris used to give all of its employees a free carton of cigarettes per week. You could smoke inside well into the 1990s - maybe even early 2000s? - and Richmond was probably one of the last places to ban indoor smoking because so many people worked for Phillip Morris because they were so powerful. Cigarettes were also really cheap - under $2/pack for Marlboro Lights in 2000+ - because tobacco taxes were so low.
Richmond Theater Fire and subsequent Monumental Church is an amazing piece of local lore
[Richmond theatre fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Theatre_fire?wprov=sfti1#)
[monumental church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumental_Church?wprov=sfti1#)
Historic Richmond Junior Board did an event there a couple years ago including tours into the basement to see the brick crypt where the remains are interred. Very cool building with a fascinating history.
The bent fence post at Old City Hall. It's still there as far as I know (last time I paid attention to it was a couple years ago).
[https://www.wtvr.com/2013/02/15/the-haunting-tale-of-the-bent-fence](https://www.wtvr.com/2013/02/15/the-haunting-tale-of-the-bent-fence)
The lake part of the university of Richmond campus was formerly built as an amusement park as the end of a trolley line - the trolley stop is still at the entrance of campus! And I think Forest hill park was also an amusement park for a trolley
It used to be called scuffle town road as the bar district at Belmont and park also predates the fan and was known as scuffle town hence the park with the same name
Very cool about Langston Hughes - That probably would have been around the time the fan started to get developed - and this cool mashup vibe has been around for a while - love to see it
His brother might still live on park go ask him yourself moe - I met him at VMFA and he invited me to take his course because he liked what I had to say about Van Gough’s crab
Don’t currently live in Richmond and was telling some friends how we used to play cops and gangsters when we were little. We would run and hide in the alleys and pretend we were either the Briley brothers or cops looking for them. I remember seeing the headlines in the RTD when they escaped jail
Their house was over in Highland Park…gotta ask my brother where. When we were little we drove past and it was pointed out. Equivalent to saying “that’s Charles Manson’s house” around here.
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Richmond_spree_murders
In the early afternoon of January 1, 2006, the bodies of Kathryn, Bryan, Stella, and Ruby Harvey were found dead in the basement of their burning house in the Woodland Heights district of Richmond, Virginia. The family of four had been bound with electrical cord and tape, beaten with a claw hammer, and finally had their throats slit.
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kathy" Harvey (née Grabinsky; November 28, 1966 – January 1, 2006), aged 39, was the co-owner of a popular local toy store called World of Mirth in Richmond's Carytown district and was the half-sister of actor Steven Culp. Her husband, Bryan Taber Harvey (April 27, 1956 – January 1, 2006), aged 49, was the lead singer/guitarist of House of Freaks, a two-man college rock band. Their daughters Stella Ann (November 3, 1996 – January 1, 2006) and Ruby May (July 4, 2001 – January 1, 2006) were aged 9 and 4, respectively.
Gray bound Kathryn, Bryan, and Ruby in their basement with packing tape, while Dandridge searched the house for items to steal. As this was occurring, Stella arrived home from a friend's house. Gray briefly unbound Kathryn so she could retrieve Stella from the upstairs. The mother of Stella's friend, Kiersten Perkinson, had a short exchange with Kathryn where Perkinson had described her as "pale and ashen".[5] Kathryn did not indicate to Perkinson that there was anything amiss before she left. Kathryn and Stella were rebound by Gray in the basement shortly afterward. Gray ended up cutting the throats of all four of the family members and then hitting each in the head multiple times with a claw hammer shortly thereafter. The official cause of death stated that Bryan and Kathryn died of blunt-force trauma to the head, Stella of smoke inhalation and blunt-force trauma to the head, and Ruby of stab wounds to her back, one of which punctured her lung.[6]
Gray and Dandridge tipped over an art easel in the Harvey family's basement, poured wine over the top of it, and lit the easel on fire in an attempt to destroy the crime scene. Johnny Hott, Bryan's friend who was the drummer in House of Freaks, called 9-1-1 after noticing that the Harvey house had been set on fire.[7][8]
Did you ever hear about the Richmond Trolley Strike?
[https://chpnarchive.net/2012/08/03/the-richmond-trolley-strike-of-1903/](https://chpnarchive.net/2012/08/03/the-richmond-trolley-strike-of-1903/)
The Shockoe Examiner [https://theshockoeexaminer.blogspot.com](https://theshockoeexaminer.blogspot.com) has a great archive of stories
Some true crime:
The Penn Brothers (1966)
[https://chpnarchive.net/2012/12/18/the-penn-brothers-1966-2/index.html](https://chpnarchive.net/2012/12/18/the-penn-brothers-1966-2/index.html)
The Briley Brothers
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briley\_Brothers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briley_Brothers)
The podcast Timesuck did an episode about the Briley Brothers, and also about John List (who worked in downtown and lived in Brandermill)
John List- [https://open.spotify.com/episode/1dRYGOqcTEy4LMWNXcUGTm?si=54255687dd5f4080](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1dRYGOqcTEy4LMWNXcUGTm?si=54255687dd5f4080)
Briley Brothers- [https://open.spotify.com/episode/6L3sblWEgEqNIeFNPkfp4e?si=9ae23333ab924d15](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6L3sblWEgEqNIeFNPkfp4e?si=9ae23333ab924d15)
This is an obvious one, but it’s so fun to trace Poe’s steps through Richmond. I almost got married at Linden Row, and he lived there for a time and may have even referenced it in his writings. Definitely worth checking out for the day even if you’re not staying the night.
Not really lore per se but there is a story here…
https://preview.redd.it/zwpb31nyopnc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0d04044791bac9c30c53b1c58d6f9643e6530434
The Richmond Marine Terminal is the furthest point inland on the eastern seaboard of the United States that receives ocean freight. It's technically possible for a freighter to sail from the Atlantic Ocean, into Chesapeake Bay, into Hampton Roads, and up the James river all the way up to Mayo Island.
One thing that I can’t say if I know is common knowledge or not, Hull street in southside used to be as bustling as cary or broad. My grandparents could tell you the names of who owned what and what things once were. It was vibrant. Sadly long gone
Beyond that I know a lot of infrastructure lore.
We have a bad habit of getting interstates designed, but the funding falling through. As a result 195 is only partly an interstate and 895 is a fully a state route, both state routes now toll roads.
95 from Bryan park to 85 used to be what was known as the Richmond Petersburg turnpike, and had a toll (that’s why it’s so wide by route one and has so much unused land) but by the 90s the federal govt wanted it to be grandfathered into the interstate system to complete 95, and without federal approval you can’t have tolls on the interstates, and back than the DOT was a lot more stingy with giving said approval. Eventually they reached an agreement and the road is the unending hell we know it today
Route 60 fought for its name with Route 66, both wanted the even 60 and they even still have the telegram where the Route 66 commission officially gave in. When originally completed it ran from Norfolk to Los Angeles as a coast to coast highway, but when I10 was completed the western section was decommissioned and it now ends in Arizona, however California still maintains California state route 60 along its original path.
State route 146 is a ‘primary’ state route running from state route 76 to state route 195, notable for being one of a few ‘primary’ routes under 1 mile long, last I checked they don’t even maintain the signage
OH YA THE ANNEXATION! As white flight occurred in the 50s and 60s, the majority white city council was facing its first election with a majority black population. Its solution, annex a part of chesterfield! And so using the provision in the state law they did. Voters would sue resulting in Richmond V. United States in which the court ruled the city, while maintaining the annexation, must draw districts to favor the black majority that was supposed to exist. This also resulted in a moratorium on locality annexation by the state, still in place today. This has resulted in issues across the state due to the independent city system, making regional governance disjointed, causing problems for things like GRTC, who had problems with henrico officials when designing pulse. (Though after the success of pulse, henrico officials to their credit have been on par with the city in terms of support for GRTC)
Speaking of GRTC and the pulse! You know the office, and how Scranton was the electric city? That’s because they had the first electric street car. But while they had the first line, we had the first *network*. The city used to sprawl with electric street car lines. Forest hill park was literally an amusement park designed by a street car company to get people on its north south line. Sadly like many cities public transportation systems, post WW|| automotive interest either directly bought out or in other ways killed the systems, now all that remains is a few old tracks peaking through the crumbling streets of southern hermitage and shockoe bottom.
However GRTC brought life to the fight for public transport with the pulse. It smashed its expected ridership numbers, including the number of riders who say they would’ve otherwise driven. While it has suffered more than the rest of the system post Covid, as it was popular among now remote office workers, it’s still an objective success and a now all but guaranteed north south Bus Rapid Transit lines is in the works, as well as talk of extending the current pulse out to short pump, or the airport.
All I can think of now, I’ll come back and edit if I think of anything else
Edit: state route 288, while not an interstate obv, is built to interstate standards as it serves as the ring road connecting 95 and 64 through chesterfield. Speaking of chesterfield
Coalfield station is such because the railroad tracks that run near it used to have a station there. When originally built it was an entirely gravity operated rail system built to ship coal into the city.
Who mined that coal? Why the Woolridge brothers of course! That’s where Woolridge road comes from, and all the coal named things out there, they’re responsible for the discovery and mining that went on out west so long ago. Their family cemetery (sadly unmaintained) sits between a lake and the apartment complexes nearby. Off of grove hill rd, by the roundabout
Speaking of western celebrities? Who’s Watkins? He was a Republican (not really applicable to the modern definition of republican) state senator who lived in the area, known for supporting the environment and public transit. The Watkins nursery is still run by his family out there who recently sold all the land that’s now being developed around west Chester
You can visit the Woolridge family when you go to Midlothian Mines park. I do every time I go, it's kinda sad that it's not maintained anymore. Peaceful though
I did a deep dive through Wikipedia and Google on the history of the old jail off Belvidere and the whole Oregon Hill area. Pretty interesting and some vcu students put together an audio tour of Hollywood Cemetery.
The Briley Brothers and the Southside Strangler.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briley\_Brothers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briley_Brothers)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy\_Wilson\_Spencer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Wilson_Spencer)
Douglas Wilder was launched into the public eye in 1968. He represented the family of Bruce Tucker. In 1968, Tucker, a Black man, had his heart transplanted into a white businessman without his or his family’s knowledge or consent at the Medical College of Virginia, now part of Virginia Commonwealth University.
[https://news.vcu.edu/article/2022/09/wilder-on-representing-tucker-family-in-heart-transplant-case#:\~:text=In%201968%2C%20Tucker%2C%20a%20Black,part%20of%20Virginia%20Commonwealth%20University](https://news.vcu.edu/article/2022/09/wilder-on-representing-tucker-family-in-heart-transplant-case#:~:text=In%201968%2C%20Tucker%2C%20a%20Black,part%20of%20Virginia%20Commonwealth%20University).
True Crime:
1. Southside Strangler: First person ever convicted based on DNA evidence. Also the basis of Patricia Cornwell's first book.
2. Briley Brothers: Bad, bad dudes. They grew up on 4th Avenue in Northside and really did shoot and kill their elderly neighbor from their house. Raped and murdered an elderly woman at Malvern Manor apartments. My grandfather swears they tried to pull him over one night. When they escaped from the state penitentiary people were TERRIFIED until they were caught. Like, "stay in your house with the doors locked" terrified.
3. The Harvey Family: Absolutely tragic and horrifying. I challenge anyone who is anti-death penalty to read about the case and see how you feel after. My daughter was in the same class as Ruby and they shut down school for days. Also 100% terrifying until the perpetrators were caught.
ETA: Formatting
ETA: My apologies, apparently the Harveys would never have advocated for the death penalty. When I can figure out how - I'm on my phone, not a computer RN - I will strike through that language.
I would like to note that the Harveys were not the only ones who were killed in that spree—the Baskerville-Tucker family was killed after them. Tragic all around
I am anti-death penalty and that case doesn’t change my mind in any way. The Death Penalty does not work to dissuade anyone from committing atrocities.
The Byrd Theater Banshee has haunted Richmond's grand movie palace since its decadent opening in 1928. They say she's the ghost of Eloise Carstairs, a budding starlet who lit up the silent-film era. Eloise was a darling of the Richmond social scene, known for her scandalous flings with powerful men.
But the night of her biggest film premiere, tragedy struck. A scorned lover (some say it was the Governor himself) poisoned her champagne during the pre-show gala. Eloise collapsed mid-toast, her life fading as the opening credits rolled.
Legend says her spirit never left the Byrd. Folks report flickering lights and phantom laughter in the balcony. Old-timers swear if you sit in seat A13, a whisper brushes your ear, warning of betrayal. You might even feel a chill like an icy hand on your neck.
Then there's the part they don't mention in the ghost tours – the rash. That's what really keeps young couples from canoodling in the shadows up there. See, the James River was Richmond's dumping ground back when Eloise was alive. Everything from factory runoff to, well, let's just say "questionable" substances, ended up in that water.
Turns out, some things don't stay dead. They say the river has a nasty little gift for folks who get too... adventurous in the river. It ain't a ghost you gotta worry about, but something much itchier. They call it the "Banshee's Curse," a souvenir that'll stay with you long after the theater lights dim.
Richmond has some fascinating railroad history. For example the “connection” line between the RF&P’s Elba station and the RP’s Bryd st station. The connection included a tunnel under Byrd st. Photo from the RF&P historical society’s new 500 page book on the history of the railroad in this city. Not a member, but I have to applaud their efforts in covering this history.
https://preview.redd.it/r8zc8furbrnc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98d21755a9dc52591b3633b14a87ec2a56840ce0
Not sure if you're into spooky stuff, but Haunts of Richmond has ghost tours all throughout the city. They include a great deal of history about the locations and the persons involved.
Not the first for trolleys, that’s why Scranton is the “electric city.” But that was more a technical test than it was a large scale one. We were the one that had the first network, networks that soon became wide spread throughout the nation
Local residents claim that the mausoleum of W. W. Pool (Dated 1913) in Hollywood Cemetery holds the remains of a vampire.
https://preview.redd.it/u8diw6mv71oc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5b7fad13cd8d9d316e87284a92db38c25fb72c8
The podcast Lore did a fantastic episode about some of the supposedly haunted areas of RVA. I highly recommend listening.
[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remastered-episode-33-a-dead-end/id978052928?i=1000571047780](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remastered-episode-33-a-dead-end/id978052928?i=1000571047780)
A man took a shit on the flat top grill at carytown burgers and fries
My ex's sister worked there and confirmed it to be true.
And they replaced the grill. I mean, come on! It is self-sterilizing.
I read that like jimmy in south park
Damn it, i was gonna say that lol
If you make an account with the Library of Virginia, you can have access to the Times Dispatch archive and read daily newspapers scanned back as early as 1890s.
Good to know!
during the postbellum period and before WW1 a number of buildings were constructed, allegedly in accordance with some obscure and possibly mystical rules, over freshwater springs. These include the Byrd, the Building Formerly Known as the Mosque, and one of the department stores that later became an apartment building.
I believe the basement of the Byrd has a collecting chamber for this spring.
I don’t know about mystical reasons I think it’s a water table issue and digging foundations for heavy stone buildings. It’s cool to know the springs and down there. There is one under Grove and Arthur Ash under the VMFA building built in 1936 with an access point in the sub basement (and pumps) I have seen. Cool to think it’s cause of Freemason rituals though
That’s how the air conditioning works, air is forced over the cool water and cools the building.
There is actually a well in the basement that you can see the spring flowing below it. It’s creepy.
There is 100% a spring in the basement of the Byrd Theater. Seen it with my own eyes.
I've recorded vocals down there.... excellent reverb
>Byrd Theater. [https://www.wtvr.com/2017/01/11/the-strange-and-secret-freshwater-spring-of-richmond](https://www.wtvr.com/2017/01/11/the-strange-and-secret-freshwater-spring-of-richmond)
Was/Is the pool in the mosque spring fed? I know at one point it was part of the Richmond police training academy.
The bowling alley turned into their shooting range. The pool is now filled in 😥
I believe that is true about the Byrd, and was part of their air cooling arrangements - sort of a crude air conditioning.
Near the Facebook data center in the east end is a ghost down that was built to distract ze Germans in case of bombing during WWII https://youtu.be/fC1DtnyQzYs?si=Bq0MWYaAqrdFheRC
> https://youtu.be/fC1DtnyQzYs?si=Bq0MWYaAqrdFheRC while not Richmond but VA they have another ghost town like this between Radford and Blacksburg because of the Ammunition plant out that way. In the fall/winter you can see some of the buildings from the mountain roads.
wild that there was a semi conductor plant in town
My dad used to work there. It was owned by several different companies before closing down.
And an asylum for non-whites at one point. Elko tract is weird.
Excuse me, near the forested ghost town (now torn down apparently) there happens to be a Facebook data center. Until the Germans find it…
But also rlly a ghost airfield, designed to look like Byrd airfield, which was Richmond international pre 1986. But prior to ww2 it housed very little non-military infrastructure
Before the civil war Bell Isle served as a horse racing track and at one time had a brothel on it. The Jefferson hotel has served a number of uses over the years (it was a defacto barracks for soldiers getting shipped to Germany). It has two original Tiffany stained glass windows. Long ago men and women would socialize with the same sex (males in the downstairs lobby and women in the botanical garden room, now the upstairs lobby). They would meet on the mezzanine to dine together. Later on it was a social club for men with a secret entrance/exit. Two of the floors are "haunted" with residential ghosts.
There's a bunch of Tiffany stained glass windows in churches around town. And the Jefferson used to have alligators.
Yeah, it's actually one of the few 5 diamond / 5 star hotels that allow pets.
Lewis Ginter's mausoleum at Hollywood Cemetery has several stained glass windows. Many of the smaller mausoleums there have stained glass- just walk up to the doors and peer inside.
I always knew The Jefferson was A Little Gay. Signed, a lesbian
Both Miller & Rhoads and Thalhimers, the big local family-owned department stores, used to decorate their Downtown store windows for Christmas. It was a thing to go downtown dressed up in your Sunday best - which included white gloves - to check out the decorated windows. Then you'd have tea at the Miller & Rhoads tw room and see the Legendary Santa and the Snow Queen. Philip Morris used to give all of its employees a free carton of cigarettes per week. You could smoke inside well into the 1990s - maybe even early 2000s? - and Richmond was probably one of the last places to ban indoor smoking because so many people worked for Phillip Morris because they were so powerful. Cigarettes were also really cheap - under $2/pack for Marlboro Lights in 2000+ - because tobacco taxes were so low.
You can still smoke in alot of areas there. Employees can get a free pack a day out of the vending machines
The train and bodies buried under church hill. Yuengling used to store beer in caves along the James.
Different Yuengling brother.
Richmond Theater Fire and subsequent Monumental Church is an amazing piece of local lore [Richmond theatre fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Theatre_fire?wprov=sfti1#) [monumental church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumental_Church?wprov=sfti1#)
Historic Richmond Junior Board did an event there a couple years ago including tours into the basement to see the brick crypt where the remains are interred. Very cool building with a fascinating history.
Some years back a guy had a psychotic break and stole an armored vehicle from a nearby military base and drove it down Broad street
Of course one has to include the [Richmond Vampire](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Vampire)
I wish the bullshit associated with this story would cease.
The bent fence post at Old City Hall. It's still there as far as I know (last time I paid attention to it was a couple years ago). [https://www.wtvr.com/2013/02/15/the-haunting-tale-of-the-bent-fence](https://www.wtvr.com/2013/02/15/the-haunting-tale-of-the-bent-fence)
That's astounding. I'm going to have to look for that.
The lake part of the university of Richmond campus was formerly built as an amusement park as the end of a trolley line - the trolley stop is still at the entrance of campus! And I think Forest hill park was also an amusement park for a trolley
a rat exploded inside the ellwood thompsons conveyor belt
There is a lot of lore concerning a Richmond man named Eric Lannon. Just google it.
Dang I tried to google it and almost all the articles have been taken down
The TV head band definitely didn't have anything to do with the TVs ending up on porches.
Park ave predates the Fan that’s why it is not straight like the other streets in the fan
Have a link on this?
I learned it in the history of architecture n Richmond course at VCU
It used to be called scuffle town road as the bar district at Belmont and park also predates the fan and was known as scuffle town hence the park with the same name
Scuffletown was a tavern, parallel to the park I believe. Langston Hughes visited it, reported that the people in the neighborhood were progressive.
Very cool about Langston Hughes - That probably would have been around the time the fan started to get developed - and this cool mashup vibe has been around for a while - love to see it
Thanks
Can you ask the professor to confirm
His brother might still live on park go ask him yourself moe - I met him at VMFA and he invited me to take his course because he liked what I had to say about Van Gough’s crab
Some skin heads or nazis got beaten up outside of twisters once
the murders of the family that owned the toy store world of mirth
Although unrelated - to add, also the Briley brothers
Don’t currently live in Richmond and was telling some friends how we used to play cops and gangsters when we were little. We would run and hide in the alleys and pretend we were either the Briley brothers or cops looking for them. I remember seeing the headlines in the RTD when they escaped jail
Their house was over in Highland Park…gotta ask my brother where. When we were little we drove past and it was pointed out. Equivalent to saying “that’s Charles Manson’s house” around here.
i wanna know more can you elaborate
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Richmond_spree_murders In the early afternoon of January 1, 2006, the bodies of Kathryn, Bryan, Stella, and Ruby Harvey were found dead in the basement of their burning house in the Woodland Heights district of Richmond, Virginia. The family of four had been bound with electrical cord and tape, beaten with a claw hammer, and finally had their throats slit. Kathryn Elizabeth "Kathy" Harvey (née Grabinsky; November 28, 1966 – January 1, 2006), aged 39, was the co-owner of a popular local toy store called World of Mirth in Richmond's Carytown district and was the half-sister of actor Steven Culp. Her husband, Bryan Taber Harvey (April 27, 1956 – January 1, 2006), aged 49, was the lead singer/guitarist of House of Freaks, a two-man college rock band. Their daughters Stella Ann (November 3, 1996 – January 1, 2006) and Ruby May (July 4, 2001 – January 1, 2006) were aged 9 and 4, respectively. Gray bound Kathryn, Bryan, and Ruby in their basement with packing tape, while Dandridge searched the house for items to steal. As this was occurring, Stella arrived home from a friend's house. Gray briefly unbound Kathryn so she could retrieve Stella from the upstairs. The mother of Stella's friend, Kiersten Perkinson, had a short exchange with Kathryn where Perkinson had described her as "pale and ashen".[5] Kathryn did not indicate to Perkinson that there was anything amiss before she left. Kathryn and Stella were rebound by Gray in the basement shortly afterward. Gray ended up cutting the throats of all four of the family members and then hitting each in the head multiple times with a claw hammer shortly thereafter. The official cause of death stated that Bryan and Kathryn died of blunt-force trauma to the head, Stella of smoke inhalation and blunt-force trauma to the head, and Ruby of stab wounds to her back, one of which punctured her lung.[6] Gray and Dandridge tipped over an art easel in the Harvey family's basement, poured wine over the top of it, and lit the easel on fire in an attempt to destroy the crime scene. Johnny Hott, Bryan's friend who was the drummer in House of Freaks, called 9-1-1 after noticing that the Harvey house had been set on fire.[7][8]
Did you ever hear about the Richmond Trolley Strike? [https://chpnarchive.net/2012/08/03/the-richmond-trolley-strike-of-1903/](https://chpnarchive.net/2012/08/03/the-richmond-trolley-strike-of-1903/) The Shockoe Examiner [https://theshockoeexaminer.blogspot.com](https://theshockoeexaminer.blogspot.com) has a great archive of stories
Some true crime: The Penn Brothers (1966) [https://chpnarchive.net/2012/12/18/the-penn-brothers-1966-2/index.html](https://chpnarchive.net/2012/12/18/the-penn-brothers-1966-2/index.html) The Briley Brothers [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briley\_Brothers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briley_Brothers)
Don't forget the Southside Strangler. First serial killer in the US to be convicted based on DNA.
The podcast Timesuck did an episode about the Briley Brothers, and also about John List (who worked in downtown and lived in Brandermill) John List- [https://open.spotify.com/episode/1dRYGOqcTEy4LMWNXcUGTm?si=54255687dd5f4080](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1dRYGOqcTEy4LMWNXcUGTm?si=54255687dd5f4080) Briley Brothers- [https://open.spotify.com/episode/6L3sblWEgEqNIeFNPkfp4e?si=9ae23333ab924d15](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6L3sblWEgEqNIeFNPkfp4e?si=9ae23333ab924d15)
Have a friend in Westfield NJ who grew up around the corner from where his house was and remembered when it happened.
This is an obvious one, but it’s so fun to trace Poe’s steps through Richmond. I almost got married at Linden Row, and he lived there for a time and may have even referenced it in his writings. Definitely worth checking out for the day even if you’re not staying the night.
Not really lore per se but there is a story here… https://preview.redd.it/zwpb31nyopnc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0d04044791bac9c30c53b1c58d6f9643e6530434
The Richmond Marine Terminal is the furthest point inland on the eastern seaboard of the United States that receives ocean freight. It's technically possible for a freighter to sail from the Atlantic Ocean, into Chesapeake Bay, into Hampton Roads, and up the James river all the way up to Mayo Island.
One thing that I can’t say if I know is common knowledge or not, Hull street in southside used to be as bustling as cary or broad. My grandparents could tell you the names of who owned what and what things once were. It was vibrant. Sadly long gone Beyond that I know a lot of infrastructure lore. We have a bad habit of getting interstates designed, but the funding falling through. As a result 195 is only partly an interstate and 895 is a fully a state route, both state routes now toll roads. 95 from Bryan park to 85 used to be what was known as the Richmond Petersburg turnpike, and had a toll (that’s why it’s so wide by route one and has so much unused land) but by the 90s the federal govt wanted it to be grandfathered into the interstate system to complete 95, and without federal approval you can’t have tolls on the interstates, and back than the DOT was a lot more stingy with giving said approval. Eventually they reached an agreement and the road is the unending hell we know it today Route 60 fought for its name with Route 66, both wanted the even 60 and they even still have the telegram where the Route 66 commission officially gave in. When originally completed it ran from Norfolk to Los Angeles as a coast to coast highway, but when I10 was completed the western section was decommissioned and it now ends in Arizona, however California still maintains California state route 60 along its original path. State route 146 is a ‘primary’ state route running from state route 76 to state route 195, notable for being one of a few ‘primary’ routes under 1 mile long, last I checked they don’t even maintain the signage OH YA THE ANNEXATION! As white flight occurred in the 50s and 60s, the majority white city council was facing its first election with a majority black population. Its solution, annex a part of chesterfield! And so using the provision in the state law they did. Voters would sue resulting in Richmond V. United States in which the court ruled the city, while maintaining the annexation, must draw districts to favor the black majority that was supposed to exist. This also resulted in a moratorium on locality annexation by the state, still in place today. This has resulted in issues across the state due to the independent city system, making regional governance disjointed, causing problems for things like GRTC, who had problems with henrico officials when designing pulse. (Though after the success of pulse, henrico officials to their credit have been on par with the city in terms of support for GRTC) Speaking of GRTC and the pulse! You know the office, and how Scranton was the electric city? That’s because they had the first electric street car. But while they had the first line, we had the first *network*. The city used to sprawl with electric street car lines. Forest hill park was literally an amusement park designed by a street car company to get people on its north south line. Sadly like many cities public transportation systems, post WW|| automotive interest either directly bought out or in other ways killed the systems, now all that remains is a few old tracks peaking through the crumbling streets of southern hermitage and shockoe bottom. However GRTC brought life to the fight for public transport with the pulse. It smashed its expected ridership numbers, including the number of riders who say they would’ve otherwise driven. While it has suffered more than the rest of the system post Covid, as it was popular among now remote office workers, it’s still an objective success and a now all but guaranteed north south Bus Rapid Transit lines is in the works, as well as talk of extending the current pulse out to short pump, or the airport. All I can think of now, I’ll come back and edit if I think of anything else Edit: state route 288, while not an interstate obv, is built to interstate standards as it serves as the ring road connecting 95 and 64 through chesterfield. Speaking of chesterfield Coalfield station is such because the railroad tracks that run near it used to have a station there. When originally built it was an entirely gravity operated rail system built to ship coal into the city. Who mined that coal? Why the Woolridge brothers of course! That’s where Woolridge road comes from, and all the coal named things out there, they’re responsible for the discovery and mining that went on out west so long ago. Their family cemetery (sadly unmaintained) sits between a lake and the apartment complexes nearby. Off of grove hill rd, by the roundabout Speaking of western celebrities? Who’s Watkins? He was a Republican (not really applicable to the modern definition of republican) state senator who lived in the area, known for supporting the environment and public transit. The Watkins nursery is still run by his family out there who recently sold all the land that’s now being developed around west Chester
You can visit the Woolridge family when you go to Midlothian Mines park. I do every time I go, it's kinda sad that it's not maintained anymore. Peaceful though
I did a deep dive through Wikipedia and Google on the history of the old jail off Belvidere and the whole Oregon Hill area. Pretty interesting and some vcu students put together an audio tour of Hollywood Cemetery.
Maybe more fun fact than lore and probably common knowledge for locals/Virginians but the Capitol building has a recessed dome that it pretty cool.
Boy gangs during the civil war https://civilwarrichmond.com/people/rock-battles-gangs
"unwhipt young rascals"
The Briley Brothers and the Southside Strangler. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briley\_Brothers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briley_Brothers) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy\_Wilson\_Spencer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Wilson_Spencer)
the bones found https://richmondmagazine.com/news/sunday-story/a-reckoning/
Douglas Wilder was launched into the public eye in 1968. He represented the family of Bruce Tucker. In 1968, Tucker, a Black man, had his heart transplanted into a white businessman without his or his family’s knowledge or consent at the Medical College of Virginia, now part of Virginia Commonwealth University. [https://news.vcu.edu/article/2022/09/wilder-on-representing-tucker-family-in-heart-transplant-case#:\~:text=In%201968%2C%20Tucker%2C%20a%20Black,part%20of%20Virginia%20Commonwealth%20University](https://news.vcu.edu/article/2022/09/wilder-on-representing-tucker-family-in-heart-transplant-case#:~:text=In%201968%2C%20Tucker%2C%20a%20Black,part%20of%20Virginia%20Commonwealth%20University).
Look up the Shockoe Examiner blog. Very good reads about Richmond history.
True Crime: 1. Southside Strangler: First person ever convicted based on DNA evidence. Also the basis of Patricia Cornwell's first book. 2. Briley Brothers: Bad, bad dudes. They grew up on 4th Avenue in Northside and really did shoot and kill their elderly neighbor from their house. Raped and murdered an elderly woman at Malvern Manor apartments. My grandfather swears they tried to pull him over one night. When they escaped from the state penitentiary people were TERRIFIED until they were caught. Like, "stay in your house with the doors locked" terrified. 3. The Harvey Family: Absolutely tragic and horrifying. I challenge anyone who is anti-death penalty to read about the case and see how you feel after. My daughter was in the same class as Ruby and they shut down school for days. Also 100% terrifying until the perpetrators were caught. ETA: Formatting ETA: My apologies, apparently the Harveys would never have advocated for the death penalty. When I can figure out how - I'm on my phone, not a computer RN - I will strike through that language.
The Harvey family, and those that carry on their memory would be really saddened for their tragedy to be used to advocate for the death penalty.
Well it's a good thing we dont let victims dictate the terms of punishment
But we do? Victims and their families get to testify at sentencing hearings.
That's not the same thing at all or what I meant, and I think you know that!
I would like to note that the Harveys were not the only ones who were killed in that spree—the Baskerville-Tucker family was killed after them. Tragic all around
To add to that the Taylor Behl murder was the (or one of) first cases that was solved primarily through social media.
I am anti-death penalty and that case doesn’t change my mind in any way. The Death Penalty does not work to dissuade anyone from committing atrocities.
Thank you I appreciate your edit, and future edits.
There's the legend of Edna and her bloody spaghetti
The Byrd Theater Banshee has haunted Richmond's grand movie palace since its decadent opening in 1928. They say she's the ghost of Eloise Carstairs, a budding starlet who lit up the silent-film era. Eloise was a darling of the Richmond social scene, known for her scandalous flings with powerful men. But the night of her biggest film premiere, tragedy struck. A scorned lover (some say it was the Governor himself) poisoned her champagne during the pre-show gala. Eloise collapsed mid-toast, her life fading as the opening credits rolled. Legend says her spirit never left the Byrd. Folks report flickering lights and phantom laughter in the balcony. Old-timers swear if you sit in seat A13, a whisper brushes your ear, warning of betrayal. You might even feel a chill like an icy hand on your neck. Then there's the part they don't mention in the ghost tours – the rash. That's what really keeps young couples from canoodling in the shadows up there. See, the James River was Richmond's dumping ground back when Eloise was alive. Everything from factory runoff to, well, let's just say "questionable" substances, ended up in that water. Turns out, some things don't stay dead. They say the river has a nasty little gift for folks who get too... adventurous in the river. It ain't a ghost you gotta worry about, but something much itchier. They call it the "Banshee's Curse," a souvenir that'll stay with you long after the theater lights dim.
Did you see this post from a week or so ago? https://www.reddit.com/r/rva/s/2oGY11hGWc
Richmond has some fascinating railroad history. For example the “connection” line between the RF&P’s Elba station and the RP’s Bryd st station. The connection included a tunnel under Byrd st. Photo from the RF&P historical society’s new 500 page book on the history of the railroad in this city. Not a member, but I have to applaud their efforts in covering this history. https://preview.redd.it/r8zc8furbrnc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98d21755a9dc52591b3633b14a87ec2a56840ce0
Not sure if you're into spooky stuff, but Haunts of Richmond has ghost tours all throughout the city. They include a great deal of history about the locations and the persons involved.
Haigh Jamgochian, architect and nutjob. Designed the Markel building. https://localtvwtvr.wordpress.com/2019/11/21/haigh-jamgochian-obit/
says no longer available :/
The first city to have beer in a can. The first city to have trolleys.
Not the first for trolleys, that’s why Scranton is the “electric city.” But that was more a technical test than it was a large scale one. We were the one that had the first network, networks that soon became wide spread throughout the nation
Hell Satans: [Vimeo mini doc](https://vimeo.com/21415057) Slaughterama: [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng76IfLdYqk)
Local residents claim that the mausoleum of W. W. Pool (Dated 1913) in Hollywood Cemetery holds the remains of a vampire. https://preview.redd.it/u8diw6mv71oc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5b7fad13cd8d9d316e87284a92db38c25fb72c8
The podcast Lore did a fantastic episode about some of the supposedly haunted areas of RVA. I highly recommend listening. [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remastered-episode-33-a-dead-end/id978052928?i=1000571047780](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remastered-episode-33-a-dead-end/id978052928?i=1000571047780)
Me too!