Broad Street

7th and Broad, ca. 1950

7th and Broad, 2014 

 Site Name: Broad Street

Date of Construction: 1737

Reason for Construction: Broad Street was built for the many commercial establishments in central Richmond.

Site History:

     In 1737, Richmond was officially named by William Byrd II. Broad Street, being the heart of Richmond, is found in a lot of Richmond’s history. It started off as a simple dirt road, but now contains much more. Broad Street has extended over the years to just about 15 miles. It's most known for having theaters like The National, stores that vary from boutiques to corner stores, museums such as the Science Museum and Children’s Museum and more. Broad Street represents progress, starting from dirt and now being a commercial center of the city of Richmond. Its central location played a big factor in the making. It was built in a straight line, enhancing the idea of it being a commercial center. By it being along a line, it encouraged the idea of the people who walked the streets believe it to be a hot spot in the city. In the twentieth century it was the location of many large department stores like Learner’s and Newman’s that made it the center of retail business in the southeast.

Area History:

     Richmond's history goes way back. When it was first founded, it was very critical for the development of colony Virginia. In 1737, when it was named and all the construction began, it was very popular for being the central marketplace. Richmond was a major commercial and industrial center during the Civil War period. During the 1950's, there came some racial tensions causing the city to separate quite a bit. Virginian politicians and leaders helped to bring the city back together by encouraging the end of segregation, mainly focusing on public places. The 1980's marked a great growth which was good for the city. As much as Richmond was emphasized for being the home of the marketplace, it was also home for great research, federal and state government, banking, transportation, trade, and health. The area we focused on was the downtown area of Broad Street.

What about the site has changed?

     The downtown area of broad has changed in the fact that it is no longer the center of retail business. Though the area does have a few small businesses located in the area it is mostly office buildings. Some of these building include the Department of Medical Assistant Services and the Federal Courthouse. Recently the University of Richmond has also added a building to the 600^th block of broad as well.

What about the surrounding history has changed?

     Although many of the buildings on the busy street still remain unused because of the high rental cost, it is slowly becoming the area it once was with the help of VCU. Broad is the location of the school’s Barnes and Noble book store and Shafer, the school’s dining hall. Also, many of the fast food restaurants such as Five Guys and Extreme Pizza allow students to use their VCU ID’s to use their Ram Bucks to purchase food. Not to mention it is location of the schools Siegel Center that not only houses the home games for the Rams but, also the Virginia High School League Championship for all regions, concerts, and other events. Broad Street isn't in the papers like it used to be because the business that used to surround the downtown area are mostly office buildings for companies that deal with government and insurance but, it still houses the city’s annual Christmas Parade. There have been great changes to Broad Street over time. Stretching from Church Hill to downtown Richmond, many old warehouses have been turned into apartments, restaurants, stores, and other small businesses. As you can see today as you drive past, there are quite a few open lots of construction. Also, when you’re going down Broad, you are subject to find many hard-working VCU students, scurrying from bookstores and back to their apartments. Broad Street is also the home to several important institutional structures such as the Library of Virginia, Virginia Department of Transportation, and Monumental Church.

Reflection:

     We choose Broad Street to be the topic of our project because often we walk the busy street after to school to go get food and even catch a basketball game from time to time. We have learned previously somewhat the history of the street and wondered why it wasn’t populated by as many retail stores like it used to be. We noticed that as you transition from the downtown area to what we now know as the fan we see the building start to transform so to speak as you see more of the rundown building between 3^rd and Monroe the stores either have no customers or they aren’t stores at all. Also, we just wanted to learn more about the history of Richmond itself. During our research we also learned that WTVR-TV, the South’s First Television Station located on West Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia, is a legacy CBS affiliate owned by Tribune Broadcasting. The station signed on the air April 22, 1948 as the first TV station granted a license south of the Mason/Dixon line. Aaliyah lives in the city and Princess travels there often we just wanted learn a bit more about why it the way it is today.

Sources:

"The Progress of Broad Street." University of Richmond. April 18, 2011.                http://urmappingamericanhistory.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/the-progress-of-broad-street/

              "Broad Street Commercial Historic District." The Gombach Group, Last modified 2007.  Accessed February 24, 2014. http://www.livingplaces.com/VA/Independent_Cities/Richmond_City/Broad_Street_Commercial_Historic_District.html.

Griggs, Walter S. "Memories of Richmond's Horses." In Hidden History of Richmond, 98-99. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2012.

Manarin, Louis. “Richmond on the James.” Postcard History Series, 55-60. Charelston, SC: Arcadia, 2001.

 "Station History." WTVR. Accessed March 14, 2014. http://wtvr.com/contact/      station-history/.