North Highland Park is one of Richmond’s quintessential streetcar suburbs. In 1891, the Richmond Union Passenger Railway (known now simply as “the streetcar”) expanded north from Downtown, crossing Bacon’s Quarter Branch on the Fifth Street Viaduct to reach Highland Park. The neighborhood was largely built out by the 1930s. Highland Park was part of the …
Bellevue is a snugly-configured, early 20th century Northside community of some 1,200 houses. It boasts an architecturally-dizzying array of traditional styles. Charles McGuigan, the editor of North of the James (a monthly tabloid), captured the spirit of the place beautifully: “Bellevue has sidewalks and a maze of alleys, and though many of the streets are …
Springhill is a tightly-configured, intown enclave of topographical and architectural contrasts. Tree-shaded streets lined with modest-sized cottages and bungalows meld counter-intuitively with riverside cliffs and modern high rise apartment towers. The neighborhood, which contains the only Old and Historic District in Southside Richmond, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. Despite …
Bon Air is a neighborhood in northern Chesterfield County. Located roughly 8 miles west of Downtown Richmond, Bon Air was formed as a getaway for wealthy Richmonders. The name, meaning “good air” in french, was selected to evoke the bucolic countryside to which Richmonders could now escape. The village was formed around the Bon Air …