Richmond Online - 
Richmond, Virginia - USA
Captain Christopher Newport first led English explorers in 1607 to the site they later named Richmond after a suburb of London, England. Until that time, Indian tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy had inhabited the area.
After two unsuccessful attempts to settle this naturally advantaged location for transportation and trade, settlers enjoyed a change of luck. By 1644, the construction of Fort Charles began attracting many new settlers. Soon, the community grew into a popular trading post for furs, hides and tobacco.
Richmond was founded in 1737 by Colonel William Byrd II. He inherited the former Stegg lands on both sides of the James River from his father and became known himself as the "Father of Richmond." He visited here in 1733 and planned to build a city. Four years later, his friend William Mayo made a map of Richmond and the first lots were sold.
There were only 250 people living in Richmond when it became a town in 1742. In early 1780, the State Capitol was temporarily moved to Richmond from Williamsburg at the request of the General Assembly, which wanted a central location that was less exposed to British incursions. In May of 1782, eight months after the British surrendered at Yorktown, Richmond was incorporated as a city and officially became Virginia's new capital. On July 19 of that same year, Richmond's first City Charter was legalized.
Richmond was capital of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865. The Great Evacuation Fire of 1865 [which occurred when the city fell to federal troops] devastated Richmond, but it gradually re-emerged to reclaim its title as the crown jewel of the Commonwealth. Today Richmond is a thriving city of 200,000 and "home city" to many "Fotune 500" companies such as Altria Group, Capital One, and Genworth Financial.
The information above was taken from the RichmondGov.com website.
ROL would like thank Sheila Berry for additional information and Doug Berry for the use of his photographs on this page. Please click this link top Doug's photography website for more images.
