Border Cafe, 1992.

Couldn't you go for their chili and cornbread (with jalapenos) now?

Image from Slant, 1992.

Shockoe Valley slums, 1913.

The mystery image from last week's post shows the slums in Shockoe Valley. And yes, that is the White House of the Confederacy at the top. This image is from Report on Housing and Living Conditions in the Neglected Sections of Richmond, Virginia, prepared by Gustavus A. Weber, secretary Society for the Betterment of Housing and Living conditions in Richmond. Published in 1913 by Whittet & Shepperson in Richmond. It is available in several Richmond area libraries and on Google Books. This area was called Butcher Town. More about Butcher Town in a future post.

This is how Gregg Kimball described this and other similar areas of the city:

Other images from the Report on Housing and Living Conditions in the Neglected Sections of Richmond, Virginia:

Check out the Report on Housing and Living Conditions.... in Richmond, 1913 HERE. It is full of images, graphs, and lots of data.

.

Can you name this location in Richmond?

Can you name the location of this site in Richmond?

Or the year?

The answer will appear on Monday.

Sixty Grand in Sixty Seconds: One of Richmond’s Great Unsolved Robberies

Just another city alley?

Today, it is just another city alley, notable only that the buildings beside it now extend above it and block out the sun, making the alley in the 800 block of Main Street seem dark and foreboding.  Walking through the gloom from west to east, the pedestrian welcomes the sunlight ahead and the cheerful blue awning of the Commonwealth Park Suits (the former Hotel Rueger) across the street.  Few today emerging at the mouth of the darkened alley would suspect that this spot was the scene of one of Richmond’s great unsolved robberies. 

Certainly such a thing was furthest from the minds of William Harvey Cogbill and William B. Jones as they made their way up Ninth Street hill through the dirty snow on a gray and cold March 2, 1934.  Cogbill, an armed bank messenger with a long history at State Planters Bank, left the bank at 904 East Main Street with Jones, his escort, and turned uphill toward the Federal Reserve Bank, then in the building now housing the Virginia Supreme Court.  Cogbill carried a canvas satchel with $60,000 in small bills.  

Transporting this kind of money to the Federal Reserve where they would be credited to State-Planters was a routine transfer, and both Cogbill and Jones, bundled against the cold, were at first annoyed when a large dark touring car pulled abruptly out of the alley and blocked their path.  Their annoyance turned to astonishment as three nicely-dressed men in suits and overcoats emerged from the Essex sedan, grabbed Cogbill and Williams, and hustled the two stunned bank employees out of sight behind the car, idling in the alley.

Cogbill, age 55, and Jones, described as “the elderly porter,” at first thought they were the victims of a joke – until guns were pointed at them.  “Several times fellow-workers at the bank have passed me and in undertones jested to hold me up,” Cogbill explained.  “I thought this was another such occasion for the moment.”  Cogbill and Jones were so taken by surprise that they hardly looked at their captors faces, but the display of guns quickly dispelled the idea this was a prank. The shaken Jones’ only comment later was, “I never had seen such big guns.”

  One robber told another to look for Cogbill’s pistol, and then removed it from the messenger’s holster as the third pinned his arms behind him and shoved him down on the cobblestones in the slush behind the car.  The robbers grabbed the satchel with the money, dove back in the car, and made a left up Ninth Street and immediately turned right on Bank Street, rounding the corner by the Hotel Rueger.  They were never seen again.

Police all over the state were put on alert.  A hot tip from Petersburg turned out to be false lead.  A ticket agent at Broad Street Station phoned in a report of a party of neatly dressed men who boarded a train headed north shortly after the robbery.  Removed from their train car at gunpoint by the police in Washington, they turned out to be on their way to a funeral in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. 

Hotel Rueger - The Robbers rounded the corner here and were never seen again.

The entire Ninth Street robbery was so fast, taking less then a minute, that one eyewitness to the event could only offer the fact the car had chains on the tires as a clue.  A witness was found, however, who was able to produce a license plate number, which was traced to a car stolen in Washington two weeks earlier.  And there the trail went cold. 

$60,000 was a huge amount of money in 1934, whose value today would be approximately $900,000, but despite the enormous sum involved, there were no arrests in the case. One fact of the robbery was emphasized again and again in the newspaper coverage: the $60,000 was insured and the depositors would not lose a cent.  It was the era of bank failures and it was judged important that the public be assured that within twenty-four hours of the robbery on Ninth Street, a check for the entire amount had been presented to replace the funds. 

 A mail truck from this Federal Reserve building in Richmond was held up in 1934 - 77 years ago this coming March 2nd.

Only a day old, as a news story the $60,000 robbery was already in eclipse by March 4^th.  It was shoved down below the fold on the first page of Richmond newspapers by John Dillinger’s sensational escape from a jail in Crown Point, Indiana.  By the following week, the holdup in Richmond of a Federal Reserve mail truck and the murder of the driver near Broad Street Station drove the Ninth Street holdup further from the public eye.  The eventual discovery of the getaway car in a local garage weeks later was practically the last mention of the event in the press.

And the nicely dressed men who had been driving that black Essex?

Whoever they were, they got away with it.

- Selden Richardson.

A Little Mystery - Richmond Goes Electric

We have a guest contributor today. Robert P. Winthrop is an architect and architectural historian. His books and articles include The Architecture of Jackson Ward, Cast and Wrought: The Architectural Metalwork of Downtown Richmond, Virginia, and Architecture in Downtown Richmond. He has given major lecture series for the Monument Avenue Foundation and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. He is the coauthor, with Sarah Driggs and Richard Guy Wilson, of Richmond’s Monument Avenue published in 2001. Today he writes about Richmond and Electricity. We thank Robert for this contribution. 

A Little Mystery.

At the turn of the 20^th century many Richmond houses had unusual gas-electric light fixtures.  Ceiling light fixtures had gas piping and electric wires.  Typically they had electric bulbs turned down, and the gas fixtures facing up.  While doing electrical work on my house in the 1970s, I discovered the piping was still in place, and was still in service. They had simply capped the fixture, but left the pipes in place and filled with gas.

In spite of the obvious dangers of this combination, there is no indication of fires resulting from the arrangement.  Electric power in Richmond came  from the  Virginia  Railroad and  Power Company.  This was the precursor of VEPCO and  eventual Dominion Power. The Railroad in the company name referred to the city's electric streetcar.

[VCU Libraries' Special Collections and Archives houses the James W. Allison Papers which contain materials related to the building of what is now the VCU President's Office, 901 W. Franklin St.. The building was built 1894-1896 and contained the combination electric/gas light fixtures that Robert discusses in this essay. Many of the original sconces and chandeliers are still in existence in the building.]

I was told the electric company cut off, or reduced electrical service to residential customers during peak hours of streetcar service.  The gas lights were needed during these periods. This makes sense, but I have been unable to document this practice.  When the Historic American Building Survey staff researching Monument  Avenue investigated the subject they were unable to  find  documentation.

It is possible to  attribute the hybrid fixtures to Richmonder’s fabled conservatism. They may have thought electricity was a fad.  The City of Richmond owned the gas system, then as now. It is also possible they required houses have gas lighting.  As of now, the reason for the hybrid  fixtures is unknown. 

- Robert P. Winthrop, architect and architectural historian and guest contributor.

Grace Place - Demolished.

Selden Richardson submitted this image of  the demolition of the 1890s-era building that housed Grace Place.  Does anyone know the year this building was demolished?

Grace Place, Richmond's first vegetarian restaurant, 826 W. Grace St., image from 1992.

Grace Place - closed in the 1990s - was considered one of the first vegetarian restaurants in Virginia - maybe the first in Richmond (it opened in 1973).  This building and most of the 800 block of W. Grace Street is gone now - thanks to VCU. The image above is from a 1992 issue of F. T. Rea's Slant - which is now Online (and in this entry he discusses Grace Place).

I remember coming to Grace Place sometime around 1984 and asked for a coke to go with my veggie lasagna. The waitress looked at me as if I ordered a dead rat. I got apple juice instead.This building had a wonderful cast iron fence. That's gone too.

While working on this entry I found a great site on Grace Place here - includes two images.

I found this text online about Grace Place - found it here - this view includes an image of the building.

Since 1973, Grace Place has been pleasing diners with its brand of international vegetarian cuisine. The restaurant in Richmond, Virginia, started as I an offshoot of a small natural foods store but has grown into a local legend with a reputation for quality and variety.

Just a block away from Virginia Commonwealth University and located in a quaint Victorian home, Grace Place originally attracted college I students and radical professors. Today, Chef Michael King describes his clientele as a potpourri of the city population--university students as well as tourists, families and out-of-/owners, who drive in for satisfying dishes such as the seitan gyros, a temp eh Fish less Fillet sandwich, or hearty bean and rice combination plates. Grace Place also offers appetizers, made-from-scratch soups, pizza, pasta and bountiful salads. After 5, the menu grows even more varied with the addition of dinner entrees and daily specials. Desserts feature home style favorites as well as a daily list of "baker's inspirations" (which always includes vegan selections). Specialty juices, smoothies, a range of herbal and caffeinated teas, micro brewed beers, wines, organic Mexican Pluma coffee, the restaurant's fabulous house coffee, and espresso drinks round out the extensive menu.

Filtered water is used in all preparations and beverages, and beans and grains are organic. All tofu products are made in Virginia and produce is purchased from local growers whenever possible. Only egg less mayonnaise is used and soy cheese is available upon request.

With its eclectic menu and uncompromising attention to quality, it's no wonder Grace Place has stood the test of time.

Anyone have any memories or more info. about Grace Place that they'd like to share?

BTW - Old issues of the paper edition of Slant (1980s-1990s) are housed in Special Collections and Archives, VCU Libraries. 

- Ray B.

Panorama of Richmond by Alexander Gardner, April 1865.

Another important view (like the image seen in the previous blog entry) of Richmond in April of 1865 is by Alexander Gardner. As noted on the Civil War Richmond site, this "panorama was taken from the western edge of Church Hill. The street running left and right through the foreground is 20th street, and the street perpendicular to that is Grace street." 

Thanks to Jeffrey Ruggles for this hint: The image was made up of 4 plates and available from the National Archives web site. The reference numbers to search for at that site are:

524555,  526378, 524454, and 524470. The Virginia Historical Society has a reprint made in 1961.

Jeffrey also suggested I look online at the view of Richmond from Church Hill that might be the earliest - if is of a daguerreotype image dated 1853-56 - available from the Valentine Richmond History Center HERE.

More views of by Gardner (and Richmond) HERE.

Here are some more panorama images from the Civil War Richmond site.

Here are the four images of the Gardner Panorama View  below:

A very large view of the third image is HERE - click Twice.

524555:

526378:

524454:

A very large view of the image above is HERE - click Twice.

524470:

 

- Ray B.

Richmond from Church Hill, April 1865.

Click twice on the image for a much larger view.

Here's a popular Richmond image - it is Richmond from Church Hill (not Oregon Hill, as the label at the Library of Congress says), looking west, April 1865. This LINK gives you access to the image from the Library of Congress and includes a much larger TIFF image.

Here's what the Library of Congress says about the image:

• Title: Richmond, from Oregon Hill [NOT CORRECT], April 1865
• Creator(s): Russell, Andrew J., photographer
• Date Created/Published: 1865 April.
• Medium: 1 photographic print : albumen.
• Summary: Photograph shows an aerial view of Richmond, Virginia.
• Part of: Russell, Andrew J. Military installations, activities, and views, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Va., and vicinity
• Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-08222 (digital file from original photograph) LC-B8184-10228 (b&w film copy neg.)
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
  
• Call Number: LOT 11486-A, no. 1 [P&P]
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
• Notes:
  • Title from item.

Floyd Ave. - Then and Now.

900 Block of Floyd Avenue -  Looking West, ca. 1898.

 

Same block of Floyd Ave. - Google Maps Image, ca. 2008.

All but one house demolished by VCU (on the left, house built by architect/builder Gilbert Hunt).

James Branch Cabell Library on the right.

I think I prefer the Then.

- Ray B.

VCU yearbooks and alumni publications from both campuses are now available online.

 

Images from the 1968 RPI Cobblestone Year Book. 

 Here's a blurb from VCU Libraries about a new online resource you may find of interest:

VCU yearbooks and alumni publications from both campuses are now available online. The VCU Libraries has digitized yearbooks and alumni publications published by Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) from both the Monroe Park Campus and the MCV Campus and from its predecessors Richmond Professional Institute (RPI) and the Medical College of Virginia (MCV). The original yearbooks are housed in the Special Collections and Archives' departments of VCU Libraries'  James Branch Cabell Library (Monroe Park Campus library) and Tompkins-McCaw Library (MCV campus)..

Funded by the VCU Libraries, this exciting project was made possible in part through the LYRASIS Mass Digitization Collaborative, a Sloan Foundation grant-subsidized program that has made digitization easy and affordable for libraries and cultural institutions across the country.

Through the Collaborative's partnership with the Internet Archive, all items were scanned from cover-to-cover and in full color. You can choose from a variety of formats, page through a book choosing the "read online" option, download the PDF, or search the full text version.

Yearbooks in the collection are:

• The Wigwam (RPI, 1931-1955)
• Cobblestone (RPI, 1956-1968; VCU, 1969-1973)
• Cobblestone yearbook, 1956-1973 (VCU, commemorative volume issued in 1974)
• Commonwealth (VCU, 1979-1980)
• The Rampages (VCU, 1989-1990)
• The X-Ray (MCV, 1913-2010)

There were no VCU yearbooks from 1974 to 1978 or from 1981-1988. After 1990, the VCU yearbook was no longer published. The MCV yearbook ceased publication in the spring of 2010.

Alumni magazines in the collection are:

• VCU Magazine (1971-1993): alumni magazine for the Monroe Park Campus
• Shafer Court Connections (1994-2010): alumni magazine for the Monroe Park Campus
• The Scarab (1952-2010): alumni magazine for the MCV Campus

To view the collections, go to http://www.archive.org/details/virginiacommonwealthuniversity. From there, you can browse by subject or keyword to get to the exact publication you want. Additional locally digitized publications are available from VCU Libraries Digital Collections, a growing resource for the VCU and global communities.