History UsefulNotes / RichmondVirginia

* The Fan District, an upscale residential neighborhood so named for the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, and westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Best known in recent years for Monument Avenue, a street lined with equine monuments of Confederate historical figures (Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew Fontaine Maury) and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers black tennis star Arthur Ashe]][[note]]which predictably pissed off the local racist community when his monument was announced[[/note]]; the Confederate monuments were dismantled in 2020--2021 after the George Floyd protests. Also includes [[GayBorhood Carytown]] and its movie palace, the Byrd Theatre, which hosts an annual French film festival each March which is attended by prominent French actors and directors.

Richmond is the capital of the U.S. state of Virginia and its fourth-largest city by population. It is located at the fall line of the James River, from which its name--specifically a view of the James from Church Hill which is reminiscent of a view of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in London[[note]]which itself took its name from UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's ancestral hometown of Richmond, North Yorkshire[[/note]]--is derived. Despite not being as prominent a state capital as Denver or Nashville, as the political center of what began as one of the original thirteen colonies Richmond has played a significant role in American history since the nation's founding, most notably as the capital of the Confederate States of America during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar.

* Church Hill, a historic district which sits on the original land plot of the city of Richmond and is one of the largest extant 19th Century neighborhoods in the U.S. The location of St. John's Church, where Patrick Henry gave the original "GiveMeLibertyOrGiveMeDeath" speech. A abandoned railroad tunnel that once belonged to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad that ran under the district still sits there, with a steam locomotive and ten rail cars trapped inside as the result of a collapse from 1925, which are still the subject of extraction attempts.

* The Fan District, an upscale residential neighborhood so named for the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, and westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Best known in recent years for Monument Avenue, a street lined with equine monuments of Confederate historical figures (Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew Fontaine Maury) and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers black tennis star Arthur Ashe]][[note]]which predictably pissed off the local racist community when his monument was announced[[/note]]; the Confederate monuments were removed in 2020--2021 after the George Floyd protests. Also includes [[GayBorhood Carytown]] and its movie palace, the Byrd Theatre, which hosts an annual French film festival each March which is attended by prominent French actors and directors.

* Oregon Hill, a historic working class neighborhood adjacent to Hollywood Cemetery (the Confederacy's answer to Arlington National Cemetery), which these days serves as an unofficial student quarter for VCU while non-student residents tend to be on the poor end of the economic spectrum.

As Virginia has politically trended more progressive, Richmond has increasingly become considered a "northern" city (at least to people from the more conservative western parts of the state). It is known as "RVA", the "River City" (owing to its proximity to the James), and "the 804" (after its area code). If Richmond is known for anything not history-related by outsiders, it's for being the center of the American tobacco industry. In truth, Big Tobacco has become less prominent in recent years as engineering and technology companies have established a presence in the area. Richmond has also become an attractive shooting location for film and television productions.

* Church Hill, a historic district which sits on the original land plot of the city of Richmond and is one of the largest extant 19th Century neighborhoods in the U.S. The location of St. John's Church, where Patrick Henry gave the original "GiveMeLibertyOrGiveMeDeath" speech.

* The Fan District, an upscale residential neighborhood so named for the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, and westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Best known in recent years for Monument Avenue, a street lined with equine monuments of Confederate historical figures (Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew Fontaine Maury) and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers black tennis star Arthur Ashe]][[note]]which predictably pissed off the local racist community when his monument was announced[[/note]]; most of the Confederate monuments were removed in 2020--2021 after the George Floyd protests. Also includes [[GayBorhood Carytown]] and its movie palace, the Byrd Theatre, which hosts an annual French film festival each March which is attended by prominent French actors and directors.

* The Fan District, an upscale residential neighborhood so named for the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, and westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Best known in recent years for Monument Avenue, a street lined with equine monuments of Confederate historical figures (Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew Fontaine Maury) and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers black tennis star Arthur Ashe]][[note]]which predictably pissed off the local racist community when his monument was announced[[/note]]; most of the Confederate monuments save the Lee statue were removed in 2020 in the midst of the George Floyd protests. Also includes [[GayBorhood Carytown]] and its movie palace, the Byrd Theatre, which hosts an annual French film festival each March which is attended by prominent French actors and directors.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'': The second season episode "Soft Light" concerns a physicist in Richmond who finds himself on the wrong end of an active particle accelerator and has his shadow [[ArtisticLicensePhysics turn into destructive dark matter]]. An example of CreatorProvincialism on the part of Creator/VinceGilligan, a Richmond native, who made the city the setting of his first script for the series.

* Creator/LeslieBibb
* Creator/ChadLColeman
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_List John List]]: notorious family annihilator and fugitive who was found living in the suburb of Midlothian after almost twenty years on the lam.
* Creator/ShirleyMacLaine

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1024px_city_of_richmond_business_district.jpg]]

* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe: Poe first entered the national consciousness as the editor and [[CausticCritic notoriously harsh literary critic]] for a Richmond-based periodical, the ''Southern Literary Messenger'', from 1835 to 1837. A museum dedicated to the writer is located at the "Old Stone House", located on E. Main Street in Stockhoe Bottom, in the city's oldest original residential building.

In the realm of sports, Richmond has a AA baseball team, the Flying Squirrels[[note]]the name being chosen in a public contest, making the team the "Boaty [=McBoatface=]" of baseball[[/note]]. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), a sprawling public university located close to downtown, is known for its Rams athletic program; the Rams men's basketball team made the Final Four in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe: Poe first entered the national consciousness as the editor and CausticCritic for a Richmond-based periodical, the ''Southern Literary Messenger'', from 1835 to 1837. A museum dedicated to the writer is located at the "Old Stone House", located on E. Main Street in Stockhoe Bottom, in the city's oldest original residential building.

* The Fan District, an upscale residential neighborhood so named for the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, and westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Best known in recent years for Monument Avenue, a street lined with equine monuments of Confederate historical figures (Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew Fontaine Maury) and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers black tennis star Arthur Ashe]][[note]]which predictably pissed off the local racist community when his monument was announced[[/note]]; most of the Confederate monuments save the Lee statue were removed in 2020 in the midst of the George Lloyd protests. Also includes [[GayBorhood Carytown]] and its movie palace, the Byrd Theatre, which hosts an annual French film festival each March which is attended by prominent French actors and directors.
* Jackson Ward, a historically black neighborhood that in its heydey was known as the "Harlem of the South" and was the original home of tap dancer/actor/singer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Robinson Bill "Bojangles" Robinson]], of statue of whom stands in the neighborhood today. Also the home of Maggie L. Walker, the first woman of color to charter and serve as president of an American bank, whose house is a U.S. National Historic Site.

Richmond is the capital of the U.S. state of Virginia and its fourth-largest city by population. It is located at the fall line of the James River, from which its name--specifically a view of the James from Church Hill which is reminiscent of a view of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in London[[note]]which itself took its name from UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's ancestral hometown of Richmond, North Yorkshire[[/note]]--is derived. Despite not being as prominent a state capital as Denver or Nashville or Boston, as the political center of what began as one of the original thirteen colonies Richmond has played a significant role in American history since the nation's founding, most notably as the capital of the Confederate States of America during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar.

Richmond is the capital of the U.S. state of Virginia and its fourth-largest city by population. It is located at the fall line of the James River, from which its name--specifically a view of the James from Church Hill which is reminiscent of a view of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in London[[note]]which itself took its name from UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's ancestral hometown of Richmond, North Yorkshire[[/note]]--is derived. Despite not being as prominent as state capital as Denver or Nashville, as the political center of what began as one of the original thirteen colonies Richmond has played a significant role in American history since the nation's founding, most notably as the capital of the Confederate States of America during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar.

* The Fan District, an upscale residential neighborhood so named for the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, and westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Best known in recent years for Monument Avenue, a street lined with equine monuments of Confederate historical figures (Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew Fontaine Maury) and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers black tennis star Arthur Ashe]][[note]]which predictably pissed off the local racist community when his monument was announced[[/note]]; most of the Confederate monuments save the Lee statue were removed in 2020 in the midst of the George Lloyd protests. Also includes Carytown and its movie palace, the Byrd Theatre, which hosts an annual French film festival each March which is attended by prominent French actors and directors.

Richmond is the capital of the U.S. state of Virginia and its fourth-largest city by population. It is located at the fall line of the James River, from which its name--specifically a view of the James from Church Hill which is reminiscent of a view of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in London[[note]]which itself took its name from UsefulNotes/KingHenryVIII's ancestral hometown of Richmond, North Yorkshire[[/note]]--is derived. Despite not being as prominent as state capital as Denver or Nashville, as the political center of what began as one of the original thirteen colonies Richmond has played a significant role in American history since the nation's founding, most notably as the capital of the Confederate States of America during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar.

* Jackson Ward, a historically black neighborhood that in its heydey was known as the "Harlem of the South" and was the original home of tap dancer/actor/singer [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Robinson Bill "Bojangles" Robinson], of statue of whom stands in the neighborhood today. Also the home of Maggie L. Walker, the first woman of color to charter and serve as president of an American bank, whose house is a U.S. National Historic Site.

* The Fan District, an upscale residential neighborhood so named for the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, and westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Best known in recent years for Monument Avenue, a street lined with equine monuments of Confederate historical figures (Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew Fontaine Maury) and [[TheLastOfTheseThingsIsNotLikeTheOthers black tennis star Arthur Ashe]][[note]]which predictably pissed off the local racist community when his monument was announced[[/note]]; most of the Confederate monuments save the Lee statue were removed in 2020 in the midst of the George Lloyd protests. Also includes Carytown and its movie palace, the Byrd Theatre, which hosts an annual French film festival each March which is attended by prominent French actors and directors.

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheXFiles'': The second season episode "Soft Light" concerns a physicist in Richmond who finds himself on the wrong end of an active particle accelerator and has his shadow [[ArtisticLicensePhysics turn into destructive dark matter]]. An example of CreatorProvincialism on the part of Creator/VinceGilligan, a Richmond native, who made the city the setting of his first script for the series.
[[/folder]]