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Church Hill
The Church Hill area, site of St. John’s Church where Patrick Henry’s words of 1775″…. give me liberty or give me death,” continue to attract residents to this neighborhood of living history. Located from North 20th Street to 32nd Street and from East Franklin Street to Jefferson Parkway and M Street, Church Hill is one of the largest preserved nineteenth century neighborhoods in the United States.
Built on a promontory above the James River, Church Hill was an early-incorporated Richmond City area… the south side of Broad Street from 1742-1780 and the north side of Broad Street in 1867. Dotting the south side of the hill you will find brick, Federal period houses built during the colonial period (1750-1789) and early National period (1790-1830). Scattered among these older homes are smaller frame cottages.
The early residents were diverse. White and free black workers, well-to-do or moderately well off whites, and their slaves comprised the community. The developing Richmond industry gave rise to these homes for both merchant and worker. Along the waterfront, and up on Church Hill, Richmond’s growing tobacco, flour, iron and shipping industries continued to develop through the antebellum period. During this period prior to the Civil War, business activities centered on the area around the Henrico County Courthouse at Main and 22nd Street.
On Church Hill, during the Civil War period factories and private homes were converted to military hospital use. Present day Chimborazo Park, located on Broad Street between 31st Street and 35th Street, was the site of the largest Confederate military tent hospital of the war.
The Reconstruction and the Victorian era of the later half of the nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth century brought slower economic times for the Church Hill community. The railroads that replaced river commerce diverted many of the manufacturing sites to other areas of the state. However, during this time Church Hill’s north side of Broad Street was developed and many of the present-day restored Victorian homes of this period are reminders of the artisans who built them. It was during the Reconstruction period that Libby Park on 29th Street was landscaped and the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Libby Terrace was erected.
Still found on the carefully laid out streets of Church Hill are many classic architectural styles: the Federal style with it’s keystones, the Greek Revival with small columned porches, the Italianate free standing style with straight-fronts, Second Empire style with mansard roofs, the Queen Anne style with turrets and tile roofs, and the Victorian style with gingerbread trim. This range of architectural style not only represents the ethnic and occupational past but also continues to reflect the diverse neighborhood of the present. Families of Church Hill include those living in the same house for generations, new homeowners drawn to the conveniences of a city, urban pioneers enjoying the unique opportunities afforded by renovation, and young professionals drawn by the exciting renewal of the industrial fringe below Church Hill…..a big city neighborhood with a small town feeling.
Church Hill is an active community that has a neighborhood web site Church Hill People’s News that can keep you up-to-date on the events that are of interest to the residents of Church Hill. Click here for to go to this site containing news, information and interesting facts about Church Hill and the people that live there.