Richmond

Sister cities

• London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
• Windhoek
• Olsztyn

History

After the first permanent English-speaking settlement was established at Jamestown, Virginia, in April 1607, Captain Christopher Newport led explorers northwest up the James River to an inhabited area in the Powhatan Nation, which takes its name from the location Pawat-hanne, or "falls in a stream," referring to the falls in the James River at present day Richmond, specifically Powhatan Hill. Richmond was Arrohattoc territory where Arrohateck village was located. However, as time progressed relations between the Arrohattocs and English colonists declined, and by 1609 the tribe was unwilling to trade with the settlers. As the population began to dwindle, the tribe declined and was last mentioned in a 1610 report by the visiting William Strachey. By 1611 the tribe's Henrico town was found to be deserted when Sir Thomas Dale went to use the land to found Henricus. In 1611, the first European settlement in Central Virginia was established at Henricus, where the Falling Creek empties into the James River. In 1619, early Virginia Company settlers established the Falling Creek Ironworks there. Decades of conflicts between the Powhatan and the settlers followed, including the Battle of Bloody Run, fought near Richmond in 1656, after tensions arose from an influx of Manahoacs and Nahyssans from the North. Nonetheless, the James Falls area saw more white settlement in the late 1600s and early 1700s. In early 1737, planter William Byrd II commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid, completed in April. Byrd named the city after the English town of Richmond near (and now part of) London, because the view of the James River's bend at the fall line reminded him of his home at Richmond Hill on the River Thames. In 1742, the settlement was incorporated as a…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (4.3%) is water. The city is in the Piedmont region of Virginia, at the James River's highest navigable point. The Piedmont region is characterized by relatively low, rolling hills, and lies between the low, flat Tidewater region and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Significant bodies of water in the region include the James River, the Appomattox River, and the Chickahominy River.Richmond-Petersburg is the 44th largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the United States, and includes the independent cities of Richmond, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and Petersburg, and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, and Prince George. On July 1, 2009, the Richmond—Petersburg MSA's population was 1,258,251. Richmond's original street grid, laid out in 1737, included the area between what are now Broad, 17th, and 25th Streets and the James River. Modern Downtown Richmond is slightly farther west, on the slopes of Shockoe Hill. Nearby neighborhoods include Shockoe Bottom, the historically significant and low-lying area between Shockoe Hill and Church Hill, and Monroe Ward, which contains the Jefferson Hotel. Richmond's East End includes neighborhoods like the rapidly gentrifying Church Hill, home to St. John's Church, poorer areas like Fulton, Union Hill, and Fairmount, and public housing projects like Mosby Court, Whitcomb Court, Fairfield Court, and Creighton Court closer to Interstate 64. The area between Belvidere Street, Interstate 195, Interstate 95, and the river, which includes Virginia Commonwealth University, is socioeconomically and architecturally diverse. North of Broad Street, the Carver and Newtowne West…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  38,501
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  32,332
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  30,229
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  25,702
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  25,617
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,707
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,391
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  23,056

Largest nearby schools

• HUGUENOT HIGH
  High · Richmond · 1,551 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• GEORGE WYTHE HIGH
  High · Richmond · 1,309 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• RIVER CITY MIDDLE
  Middle · Richmond · 1,180 students · 11.2:1 ratio
• Cardinal Elementary
  Elementary · Richmond · 871 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH
  High · Richmond · 816 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• G.H. Reid Elementary
  Elementary · Richmond · 637 students · 14.8:1 ratio
• Broad Rock Elementary
  Elementary · Richmond · 634 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• THOMAS C. BOUSHALL MIDDLE
  Middle · Richmond · 611 students · 13:1 ratio