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Spring Sell-A-Bration A.C.O.R.N.'s Draws a Crowd to Historic Battery Park
The Battery Park neighborhood is one of Richmond's best kept secrets...situated adjacent to Ginter Park and Barton Heights, this area is chock-full of beautiful American Foursquare, Craftsman and Bungalow style homes. The area was built around Battery Park - a "Central Park" of this north Richmond neighborhood boasts a community center, swimming pool, walking paths and tennis and basketball courts, all contained within a spectacular wooded ravine setting. Battery Park was developed as part of the greater Barton Heights neighborhood by James Barton, a real estate developer from Arkansas. In 1889, when Mr. Barton saw the rolling hills and high plateau of what would become Barton Heights, he pronounced the area the finest piece of suburban land he had seen. Two hundred lots were made available for a small down payment. Barton then built a house for the buyer and let him take possession of for small monthly payments. The construction of a viaduct over the valley of Bacon's Quarter branch connected Barton Heights with Richmond's First Street. Later, streetcar service across the new bridge ensured the success of this early commuter community. An 1893 publication noted that more than a hundred houses had been built on the popular Barton Heights tract and it now featured "churches, schools, electric lights, spring water, stores, and all other conveniences of a metropolitan district of Richmond."
Renovation activity is evident in throughout Battery Park demonstrating the desirability of the area for many of the same reasons promoted by James Barton over a hundred years ago.
Sell-a-Bration Photo Highlights
Typical Battery Park Streetscape - Tennis Courts at Battery Park - Noble Avenue
Typical Battery Four Square - Four Square with classical detailing - Four Square with Chippendale detailing
A.C.O.R.N. is a nonprofit organization that strives for the revitalization of city neighborhoods by promoting the purchase and renovation of vacant and abandoned buildings in Richmond’s oldest neighborhoods.