What Richmond, Virginia looked like in the 1950s through Historical Photos

The distinctive Old City Hall, with its High Victorian Gothic style, is at left, bounded by 10th and 11th streets. The building is a National Historic Landmark.

Buckroe Beach was a popular destination for Richmonders in the first half of the century as railroads offered direct trips to the area, where visitors could rent a cottage for $50 to $75 a week.

Three fuel oil and kerosene tanks caught fire, sending black smoke across much of the city. More than 100 firefighters were needed to stop the blaze, which threatened a nearby stream, coal yard and other properties. When the owner of neighboring fuel tanks was told that his were saved, he called it "the nicest Christmas present ever."

In February 1957, building supervisors looked out from the platforms, which once were public observation spots.

In May of that year, during Park and Recreation Week, Maymont opened a nature center in what had been a stone and brick stable.

In the 1950s, the historic home was often the site of Tuckahoe Garden Club events; estate owner Mrs. H.C.L. Miller was club president.

Tobacco, textiles, newsprint, machinery and steel were among many products that came into or exited the terminal on cargo ships.

The popular diner, located along the Corner in the heart of the University of Virginia, was opened in 1953 by Paul Dunsmore. The building used to house a beauty salon, and a white spot on the floor where a salon chair once sat gave the eatery its name.

An accompanying article said the storm brought out a “spirit of neighborliness” among passengers as they “gossiped with strangers about the terrible weather.”

More than 150 firefighters and two-thirds of the city’s firefighting equipment responded to the blaze, which caused extensive damage. Four firemen were injured, mainly from ice that formed on ladders and sidewalks in the freezing cold.

As part of event, the Antiquarian Society of Richmond also prepared an exhibit of 18th-century furniture in the library of the house. Proceeds helped restore local gardens

The International League baseball team held spring training in Haines City, Fla., before returning to their local base of Parker Field.

The work was expected to cost about $165,000 and take approximately seven months.

The granite arch span, most of which can still be seen today, was built in the 1820s – at a cost of just over $2,000. The bridge was retired from service in the early 1930s after a new span began carrying southbound U.S. 1/301 traffic over Falling Creek in Chesterfield County. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1990s.

The church was organized in 1924 and several years later built its first building on West 41st Street in Richmond. In 1942, it started using an old house at 4401 Forest Hill Ave. for all meetings outside regular services. By 1946, the church received a permit to construct a new building on the site of the Church House.

The structures, which remained after the electric trolley system folded in the late 1930s, had become a nuisance, with chunks of concrete falling off of them at times. It took more than 15 years after this image was taken until the last of the structures was removed.

The festival ran in Richmond from 1949 to 1984 and was a top event in the city during its run. A predecessor festival was held in South Boston before World War II.

In November 1961, a $150,000 project removed the circle, added islands and traffic signals, and diverted some traffic around the busy intersection. City safety official John Hanna called the intersection the “most complicated we have had to redesign and signalize in the past 14 years.”

Herring would arrive in rivers in the spring to spawn, and dipping was a popular activity that allowed men to socialize while stocking up on fish that could be salted and eaten through the year.

The attraction was part of a new set of playground equipment purchased with $750 donated by the Lakeside Lions Club. Watching the children (from left) were H.F. Taylor, Lions Club president; Joseph Rotella, school principal; and F.M. Armbrecht, chairman of the PTA recreation committee.

After standing for many years on a pedestal in front of Grays’ Armory at Seventh and Marshall, this one was destined to join its two mates at the city Works Department trash heap at the old fairgrounds, where those two had lain missing since World War II until being rediscovered in January 1952. This one was instead saved with a move out of the way of downtown traffic.

The wagon was among numerous items being transferred from Cameron Station in Alexandria; it can still be seen at the Army Quartermaster Museum at Fort Lee.

Today known as Veterans Day, the 1952 events marked the 34th anniversary of the end of World War I. At John Marshall, the school’s band and color guard took part in the service, and wreaths were placed on two plaques bearing names of former students who gave their lives in the two world wars.

That month, city officials pondered whether furnishing water to this old horse trough – on North Second Street near Bates Street – and two others was still justified. The cost of supplying water to all three was about $500 per year.

Trainer J.H. “Casey” Hayes delivered a pat to the Thoroughbred’s nose. Owned by Mr. and Mrs. Christopher T. Chenery, Hill Prince did not return to racing until fall 1951 and only raced one more year after before being retired.

The building at Park and Allen avenues in Richmond housed Monument Methodist Church before a fire in 1950 caused extensive damage. The following year, that congregation was part of a merger that formed Reveille United Methodist. The Byrd Park Methodist congregation, later renamed to Park Avenue, moved into the structure in 1952. The building is now occupied by Community Church of God in Christ.

Air Force members and volunteers staffing the Richmond filter station began plotting sightings of planes as they were called in.

According to an accompanying article, square dancing was enjoying a revival at the time. The local federation, assisted by the city parks department and state Chamber of Commerce, planned to host a square dancing festival the next month with groups from across Virginia.

Though long out of use, the engine was brought out for special occasions and parades. When Old 798 was still active, it was pulled by two horses that responded to the fire bell with excitement, a veteran fire chief said.

The playground received the Quonset hut, a semicircular structure made out of corrugated metal, in 1947 after city officials authorized using $15,000 to erect it. It quickly became a center of extracurricular activities for area children.

Lewis Ginter built the dam in the 1890s to connect Lakeside Park to the Lakeside Wheel Club. Today, the lake is in on the grounds of Jefferson Lakeside Country Club.

he ice cream shop, located on Willard Road in Henrico County, was a popular hangout for local teens.

Osterbind was one of several members of his family who worked at Tredegar over the course of four generations. Tredegar opened in 1837, was a major manufacturing center for the Confederacy during the Civil War and continued as a production facility through most of the 1950s.

Previously, it took two men to do the process - one to hold a piece of rope along the line and another to apply paint.

A boy and girl walked through Chesterfield County farmland with their tools, ready to help with planting, 1950.

After their installation and later refurbishment in the mid-19th century, the locks increased boat traffic and allowed for easier transport of goods to and from the city.

The open-membership volunteer group, which held roughly a dozen performances annually at local events, was organized almost four years earlier by local former professional dancers Betty Carper Grigg and John Hurdle.

The school, which cost about $1.1 million, opened the previous month and had roughly 500 high school and 500 elementary students.

The fire caused $100,000 in damage and displaced Nathan’s tailor shop and the DeJarnette & Paul insurance agency.

The mailbox post was made using an old log cabin chain and required an hour’s worth of welding. Mattox and her husband were inspired by a design they saw in a magazine.

Members of the Richmond public health community and South Richmond Community Nursing Service participated in the ceremony. The clinic, which opened in January 1952, was staffed by volunteer nurses.

Like Black Friday, shoppers were lured to stores with deals such as $1 televisions, 2-for-1 car deals and $1 dresses. Merchants reported strong sales.

The men used the “hot boxes” at the Richmond YMCA, which could be set to 115 degrees and could leave the body cleansed and refreshed.

The barrel was serving as a temporary mailbox for the newly developed residential area in the West End.

More than 4,000 spectators saw Bobby Hill of Columbus, Ohio, the nation’s top racer, ride bike No. 1 to victory in the 20-lap championship race.

The warehouse blaze destroyed a lot of pieces intended for Christmas gifts.

Earlier that month, the state’s nine parks welcomed more than 77,000 visitors during their unofficial opening week for the season.

The whistle was one of nine that was being used in a citywide test of the audibility of air raid signals.

The device scooped grain from ground level and transferred it up for storage, and the wheels allowed it to be moved from place to place. “Everybody who farms has to make every kind of gadget he can for himself,” Welch said.

The parade was first held in 1929 and, after a pause during World War II, resumed in 1946. Thalhimers department store employees worked for months to build floats, design routes and prepare costumes. The parade was cancelled in 1973 as in-store activities took greater prominence.

The farm dated to the 1700s, and a large oak on the property, which was felled by a storm in 2012, was known as the “Surrender Tree” – legend says it is where Richmond Mayor Joseph Mayo surrendered the city to Union forces in April 1865 near the end of the Civil War. More recently, the farm served as a set for the 2015 film “Ithaca,” starring and directed by Meg Ryan.

About 20 signs were erected to let motorists know that they no longer shared a single side. The change was in anticipation of expanding the configuration to begin at the city limits.

The winner was “Little Joe” Weatherly of Norfolk, who later turned to stock car racing and won NASCAR titles in the 1960s before being killed in a race accident in Riverside, Calif., in 1964.

The road was being widened for divided lane traffic in the block between Bevridge Road and Roxbury Road.

Starting in the 1800s, the area near what is now Willow Oaks was occupied by a large number of granite quarries. As they closed and were allowed to fill with water, they became popular recreation spots.

Admission was $1 per game for adults and 50 cents for students. Newport News High School won the tournament.

Located on Bells Road, Parnell Field had two dirt runways, and at its peak, it was home to as many as 30 light aircraft. It closed in 1972.

The branch featured drive-in windows, walk-up service and a night depository. The bank had opened a West End auto branch at West Broad Street near the Boulevard in 1948.

The store, built in 1917 in Madison County, also served as the community’s post office and telephone collection agent. In this rural area, the store was a community gathering place, with an old 1917 Simmons Giant coal-burning stove to keep people warm.

The Henrico County school’s band previously practiced in the school basement, which caused a noise problem in classrooms. The shop building was located offsite nearby.

Rents at the 17th Street Market also were going up, and the city planned to raise the sanitation tax on vehicles using street space in the market areas from 10 cents to 50.

The students filed out in an orderly column while a teacher remained at the door to make sure all youths exited safely.

Deals included winter coats for $1 for early customers, television sets between $1.98 and $19, and a seven-diamond ring for $39. Many stores participated in the sales event, and customers lined up as early as 8:30 p.m. the night before in hopes of getting the best deals.

Sledders turned out after school and stayed late on hard-packed snow. Two days before, a snowfall that officially measured 7.6 inches had fallen – it was the most since 1948.

The span in the foreground was a small automobile bridge to Belle Isle, mainly used by employees working on the island. The bridge was largely washed away in rains from the remnants of Hurricane Agnes in 1972, and now only the supports and a small portion on the island remain.

Starting in the 1800s, the area near what is now Willow Oaks was occupied by a large number of granite quarries. As they closed and were allowed to fill with water, they became popular

The theater, which reopened a month later after repairs, had a long history. It opened as the Lubin in 1909, became the Regent briefly in 1916 before changing name to the Isis in the same year. After closing in 1929, it reopened as the Park in 1938, then closed again in 1953.

In 1929, operating again as a gristmill, the property became known officially as the Swift Creek Mill and remained in operation until 1956. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Here, Virginia's Jim Bakhtiar (feet in air) rolled into the end zone in the first quarter for the first of his four touchdowns. The Cavaliers trounced the Gobblers 38-7.

The photo accompanied a “Capital Sidelights” column by Charles McDowell Jr. that promoted the sunset views from the hill.

Jackson, one of Richmond's first full-fledged female traffic officials with full police authority, was tasked with pedestrian education and enforcement when the “walk/don't walk” lights began operation on Broad Street, as well as car tagging and intersection assignments.

Here, students from Thomas Jefferson High School were given a look inside the State-Planters Bank and Trust Co. vault by assistant cashier Ramon G. Smith. Gov. John S. Battle first designated such a week in 1950.

The co-feature was the Richmond Plate race, a 2-mile course that Crown Royal led over the first jump before finishing third, eight lengths behind winner Flying Wing.

The club was first organized in October 1902, and while it put on some shows before 1935, it did not begin a consistent schedule until then.

As part of a larger resurfacing and repair project across the city, Cary was repaved with blacktop between Belmont and Nansemond streets by Richmond’s Department of Public Works.

According to the story, in about 1922, the 6-year-old son of a preacher-farmer in Powhatan County kept eating persimmons one day until he developed a stomachache and was brought to the hospital. A doctor removed about a pint of seeds from the child’s stomach – and then planted one, which became this tree.

The school offered a wide range of programs, including sewing, music and physical education. It still stands today, serving low-income children.

In 1949, Randolph retired at age 79 from a long career that encompassed teaching and supervising teacher training and curriculums for black schools in the Richmond area. Randolph, whose efforts focused heavily on vocational education, died in 1958.

The following year, the church decided to move to River Road; the former building has since been torn down.

Here, train engineer Mr. Denton got orders from stationmaster Mr. Boykin. By the end of the year, the company hoped to have most of the steam locomotives in its line replaced with diesel-electric ones.

Tobacco planters and shippers started building facilities in Richmond in the 1600s. The brick buildings that stand there today were built in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The tobacco companies had moved out by the late 1980s, and today the old buildings have been converted mainly to retail and residential space.

This fountain, between Dove and Vale streets just off the turnpike, is still standing, though the lion heads have since been removed and the fountain has been painted.

That fall, Hofheimer's offered Stride Rite children's shoes - “gas-filled balloons with every pair!” - for $4.50 to $7.95. (The location, in what is now called Carytown, is occupied by Can Can Brasserie.)

Square dancing for all ages on the Byrd Park tennis courts was a highlight of the week.

The regulations were enacted because a surge in demand for goods after the start of the Korean War caused a rapid rise in prices. The office was closed in April 1953.

From 1940 until it closed in 1963, it was the home for western movies in Richmond.

A food broker that owned adjacent property wanted to buy the land to expand its warehouse. This land today houses part of the parking deck for The River Lofts apartments.

Richmond endured five days of rain, with an official total of 3.82 inches falling. The James River reached flood stage, and while that was enough to cover docks, the rains finally relented.

Just days after the service, the church suffered a devastating five-alarm fire – the following year, the congregation was part of a merger that formed Reveille United Methodist. The damaged building was restored and is now occupied by Community Church of God in Christ.

In 1949, Randolph retired from a long career that encompassed teaching and supervising teacher training and curriculums for black schools in the Richmond area. Randolph, whose efforts focused heavily on vocational education, died in 1958.

Shields Lake was a whites-only public swimming facility that was closed in 1955. City officials cited the high cost of necessary repairs, not court rulings against segregation, and said several new neighborhood pools could be built for less than renovating the lake facility.

The next year, it was turned over from the Glenwood Farms Civic Association to Henrico County. This March 1954 image shows Newt, the fire dog at the Henrico County Fire Department’s Station No. 7. The station was formed in 1948 as the Glenwood Farms Fire Department, serving the Mechanicsville Turnpike area. The next year, it was turned over from the Glenwood Farms Civic Association to Henrico County.

A 1951 proposal to expand the east and west wings at a cost of $875,000 was ultimately rejected.

From 1896 to 1915, this address housed the Robert E. Lee Camp No. 1 Confederate Veterans Hall. The camp held meetings and parties at this location, while its home for veterans was at Boulevard and Grove Avenue.

It opened in 1912 to house the University College of Medicine, which merged with the Medical College of Virginia the following year. It still houses offices, laboratories and classrooms for Virginia Commonwealth University’s medical campus.

Bellona was built in 1816 by the U.S. government as an Army post, and the nearby foundry supplied the military in the antebellum era. In the Civil War, the complex served the Confederacy. The Luck family renovated the remaining buildings beginning in the early 1940s.

For several decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Fonticello Lithia water company advertised the medicinal properties of the spring water and sold it bottled starting at 20 cents per gallon

The 475,000-piece circus took five men 48 hours to set up on a 60-by-28 foot-table – and seven hours to break down.

The statue’s head was finally placed on March 13, after which the smoothing process was completed. With the ceiling of the memorial only 2 feet above the top of the head, it was an arduous six-hour process to get the head installed.

Today, the ramp linking southbound Belvidere Street to southbound Interstate 95 occupies the area.

Pictured are Eddie Shumate, 18, with Rowena Grisso, 16, at the far end; 11-year-old Howard Taylor is not pictured. While multiple precautions were in place, including having extra iron lungs available, the 10½-hour journey went smoothly.

In addition to resurfacing the road after removing the streetcar tracks, a concrete center strip was added along with updated traffic signals, new street lights and walk-don’t walk signals. The entire Broad Street renovation project stretched from Laurel to 12th streets.

These boys soaked up the sun while fishing at Shields Lake in Richmond. A day later, temperatures dropped into the 60s after a cold front arrived.

From its opening in 1908 until 1954, the facility served as an administration building, Army induction center and Army motor pool before housing the city’s cars. In 1954, the building became The Arena and hosted sporting events, concerts, shows and exhibitions for more than 40 years before being torn down in the late 1990s to make way for Sports Backers Stadium.

The 1st Precinct station required major repairs and would have cost about $4,000 per year to maintain. The building later was renovated and became a children’s recreation center.

Henrico County had recently reduced the speed limit on its portion of Monument from 50 to 35, and a Richmond News Leader editorial urged the city to raise its limit to match that.

This image of an Atlantic Coast Line diesel locomotive – with Broad Street Station barely visible in the background through fog – illustrated the need for heightened vigilance in bad weather to avoid collisions between trains and cars. The story said there were 122 such accidents in Virginia in 1949, with 23 people killed.

The location opened on April 25, 1946, and specials included a three-piece mahogany bedroom suite for $199.50 and card tables for $3.50 each. (Today, the building is occupied by Sunny Men’s Wear, and the original Virginia greenstone flanking the entry is still visible.)