Rare Beth Ahabah postcard image, postmarked 1916

 

Rare postcard view of Beth Ahabah Jewish Synagogue. I know of only four other postcard views of this building. You can find those images on the Rarely Seen Richmond online website that VCU Libraries hosts. This image is one I just downloaded from a rare book dealer website. I may purchase the original. 

The Synagogue of Congregation Beth Ahabah at 1121 W. Franklin Street was built in 1904 and designed by Noland and Baskervill. The neo-classical building’s dome recalls the Pantheon in Rome. The Synagogue contains twenty-nine stained glass windows including one depicting Mount Sinai created by the Louis C. Tiffany Studios in 1923. The reform Jewish congregation was founded in 1841. Beth Ahabah means House of Love. 

The reverse side of the postcard. Postmarked March 6, 1916.

-- Ray

Map of Richmond, 1871/1872 - published in the city directory.

The Richmond city directory of 1871/1872 (published in September of 1871) contained this map of Richmond. This image is from a copy of the directory held by the Special Collections and Archives department of the James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries. 

Map of Richmond from the 1871/1872 Richmond city directory.

Email Ray if you would a larger digital copy of this map.

The 1871/1872 directory was published by "B. W. Gillis, Publisher," whose offices were located at 912 1/2 Main Street. B. W. Gillis' full name was Basanquet Wesley Gillis (1835-1915) and he was briefly editor of the Richmond State Journal. [The Library of Virginia's Virginia Chronicle site has a good description/history of the paper HERE,] Gillis' obituary can be viewed at the bottom of this blog entry. His firm also published the 1873/1874 Richmond city directory. 

Below are some sections of the map:

This section includes Capitol Square. 

The western edge of the city. A section of the area entitled Public Square would eventually morph into Monroe Park.

A legend on the top left of the map indicates the city's numerous church locations. 

Notice of the publication of the 1871/1872 Richmond city directory which appeared in the September 9, 1871 edition of the Richmond Dispatch.

Obituary of Basanquet Wesley Gillis from The Brooklyn Daily Times, April 14, 1915. 

The Shockoe Examiner will publish other 19th-century Richmond city maps in future posts. 

- Ray

We're back from our vacation and ready to report our latest findings on Richmond history.

The old overhead fluorescent light fixtures came on with a sizzling sound when we threw the big breaker on the wall of the Shockoe Examiner editorial and production facilities.  After a minute, laptop screens flickered to life around the room, the massive teletype machine in the back gave a couple of chugs, and a hot smell in the air signaled the coffee maker ran dry months ago and was getting ready to burn the place down.  Sabbatical is over, and the Shockoe Examiner is back on task.

One of the first things to attend to is our correspondence, bulging our email account and piling up like snow under the mail slot under the frosted glass window of the Shockoe Examiner front door.  Many thanks to everyone who wished us well and said they were looking forward to the blog’s return.  I assure you every message is read and appreciated.

So, under the leadership of the SE Editor, Ray, the rest of the staff clatters down the stairs and out into the streets of Richmond, eager to ferret out the most exquisitely obscure history bits still running around loose in this town for our loyal readers.  The Shockoe Examiner is back, and the game is on.

 Selden