Day-Tripping Down the Street

Friday, November 13, 2009

Occasionally we’ve left the property at Rocketts to explore some nearby neighborhoods. For those days when you are ready to do a little historic exploring, here’s a breakdown of some of the museums nearby.

 
SHOCKOE BOTTOM
 
Edgar Allan Poe Museum
Though not a Richmonder by birth, Edgar Allan Poe grew up here as a young boy, lived here as a student and later served as an editor for the Richmond-based magazine Southern Literary Messenger. The Edgar Allen Poe Museum opened in 1922 in The Old Stone House on Main Street — Richmond’s oldest still-standing dwelling (erected in 1737, the house is its own glimpse into the past) — which is only a couple blocks away from Poe’s first Richmond home. The museum boasts the world’s largest collections of Poe letters, manuscripts, first editions, memorabilia, etc., and also has a model of Richmond from Poe’s time completed in 1927 that offers an interesting peak into our historic city.
 
Virginia Holocaust Museum
Located within an old tobacco warehouse along Tobacco Row since 2003, the Virginia Holocaust Museum originally opened in 1997 in Richmond’s Temple Beth El. Today, the museum features 28 permanent exhibits, such as the only existing Nuremberg Trials Courtroom Exhibit, as well as a book and gift shop. A stunning two-story auditorium is also attached and frequently features nationally recognized guest speakers, lectures and films on a wide range of topics. For example, last week the museum hosted a professor from UNC, Christopher Browning, who is one of the world’s experts on why Nazis carried out the Holocaust.
 
CHURCH HILL
 
Patrick Henry’s Speech at St. John’s Church
In March of 1775, 100 colonial leaders, such as Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry, gathered in Richmond’s first church, St. John’s. Home of Henry’s infamous “Give me liberty, or give me death!” speech, St. John’s Church is designated as a national historic landmark, and offers guided tours, private and public reenactments of the Second Virginia Convention, an interpretative Visitor Center and Gift Shop. The church is also an active place of worship and welcomes visitors.
 
Chimborazo Medical Museum
Located on East Broad Street just a few blocks east from St. John’s Church — and an easy walk from Rocketts — is Chimborazo Park and the national park, Chimborazo Medical Museum. During the Civil War, Richmond was a central destination for recuperating wounded Confederate soldiers. Chimborazo housed the largest Confederate general hospital in Richmond. The museum features a collection of medical equipment, as well as a film and diorama of the hospital. One neat side-note: The name comes from a mountain in Ecuador, which during the Civil War was thought to be the tallest mountain in the world at 21,000 feet tall. That’s not even close to Everest, at 29,000 feet.
 
Robinson Theater Community Arts Center
Recently awarded the A.C.O.R.N. 2009 Golden Hammer Award for “best renovation by a nonprofit,” the art-deco Robinson Theater was built in 1937 and originally named after early 20th century Broadway star and Richmond-native Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. The theater was an important gathering hub for the historic Church Hill neighborhood until its spiraling neglect and subsequent closing in the 1980s. In 2008, however, the Robinson Theater underwent an historic renovation and now offers a multi-purpose performance hall for arts-based programs, such as the recent Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra fall concert.