Image of the corner of W. Franklin and Laurel streets, looking East, ca. 1890.
On the right is the cast iron fence of the Ordway House which was moved to the North Side of Richmond in 1915 to make space to build the Monroe Park Terrace apartment building (now VCU's Johnson Hall). Just down the street on the right is a wooden fence marking the boundries of Monroe Park. On the left is the 700 block of W. Franklin Street - three houses stood on that block followed by Park Place
Postcard image of the 700 block of W. Franklin Street, opposite Monroe Park, ca.1910.
Google Map image of W. Franklin and Laurel Streets today.
3 comments:
The "today" views are always so depressing! The streets always look much wider and quite barren. The loss of Pace Memorial is very sad - I read (not sure where) that the fire was caused by arson.
Where on the North Side was the Ordway house moved - and is it still standing?
Yes, those today views can be depressing.
Rhoads Hall was being built at the time of the fire in Pace Memorial - not sure about arson.
The Ordway House: Built in 1870 by Albert Ordway, a Union colonel, this house originally stood at 801 W. Franklin Street on the site of what is now VCU’s Johnson Hall dormitory. Ordway was appointed to the City Council in 1869. He championed the construction of Monroe Park. Unfortunately, Ordway lost his house to foreclosure in 1875, but plans for the park did proceed. In 1915 the house was moved to 3607 Chamberlayne Avenue, Monroe Terrace Apartments, now Johnson Hall, was constructed on the site. By the 1940s/1950s, the Ordway house was known as Chamberlayne Lodge Tourist Home. When the house burned in 1997 the Richmond Time Dispatch described it as one of the oldest in Ginter Park.
Arson for sure on the Park Place/Pace Memorial fire, 12/11/1966, Sunday night. I was organist in the rebuilt church for a number of years.
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