The History of Richmond
Terse, Historical Timeline ...
...in the years until the 17th century, all was silent. Stories told were only those by shaman of the native tribes near the falls of the James River. Secrets were those of forests and magic. Trees. Animals. Natives. All were unknowing of the treaties and charters being written across the ocean.
1606...King James I granted royal charter to the Virginia Company of London to settle colonists in North America; Captain John Smith and fleet of three ships set sail from London
1607...First permanent English settlement established at Jamestown; Captain Christopher Newport traveled up the James River to Powhatan Hill where he placed a cross inscribed “Jacobus Rex 1607”. Smith visits the area that eventually becomes Richmond.
1619...Virginia’s first General Assembly convened in Jamestown; The first women and the first Africans arrived in Virginia
1622...In the Powhatan Uprising, widespread Indian attacks wiped out every English settlement except Jamestown
1634...worlds crumbled between the white men and the Indians. What were the hunting grounds of the James became Henrico County.
1634...Henrico County, consisting of present-day Henrico, Charles City, Powhatan, Chesterfield and Goochland Counties, was created
1637...The first permanent non-Native American settlement in the area was established at the falls of the James River
1644...Fort Charles, built at the Falls to guard against Indian attacks, was the first lasting settlement at the James River Falls. The settlement developed as a trading center.
1646...the English owned all.
1671...William Byrd I settled at the Falls
1737...William Mayo laid out the original street plan for the town of Richmond, named in honor of Thames, England, under the patronage of William Byrd
1742...Richmond chartered as a town
1773...Lau of the Ordo Dracul assumes control of the area that is now known as Maymont; seizing it for the use and studies of the Order of the Dragon.
1775...Patrick Henry delivered his “liberty or death” speech at the second Virginia Convention, held in St. John’s Church
Marcus Roxwell
1776...Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence
1779...Richmond became the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
1780...State Capital moved from Williamsburg to Richmond; Richmond’s first newspaper, The Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser, established; Richmond Baptist Church formed
1781...the British, under the leadership of Benedict Arnold, burned the settlement.
1782...Richmond incorporated as a city.
1786...Masonic Hall, the first Masonic building in America, constructed
1808...Congress passed law prohibiting the African slave trade
1838...The Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College opens and will eventually become the Medical College of Virginia
1849...Hollywood Cemetery dedicated
1861...Richmond was made the capital of the Confederate States of America
1861-65 During the American Civil War MCV remained opened and graduated a class each year of the war. It is the only southern school still in existence with this distinction.
1863...President Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation; During Richmond Bread Riot, mobs of armed women, angry over the shortage of food, plundered local shops;
1865...The Great Fire...On Evacuation Sunday, April 3, 1865, The city was evacuated and principal sections were burned by its own residents. Union troops, led by General Ulysses S. Grant, succeeded in occupying the city. The year of the Dragon’s court; Alexander Marcellus, with a Council of Five, takes control of the city and begins to establish a formal set of traditions within the city for all to follow. Richmond is visited by President Lincoln. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House. President Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington;
1869…State public school system for both races–but segregated–begun in Richmond; Black voters registered at Richmond’s first municipal election since end of the war
1880...The circle of the Crone faces a brutal hunt that wipes nearly all of them from the city. With the death of the prince, Laura Anastasio politically seizes praxis
1886...Sallie Dooley, at the age of forty, with no children and the resources of her husband's prosperity at her disposal, led the effort to transform what is now known as Maymont into the landscape and showplace that would rival the lavish estates that were springing up throughout the country.
1888…The Grand Fountain, United Order of True Reformers, founded the first black-owned and -operated bank in U.S.
1902...Construction of Elysium is completed. Not one month later, Lanca De Kranfta breaks Elysium and is subsequently crucified with stakes and left to watch the sunrise.
1914…Richmond became headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve Bank
1914-1918…World War I
1920…Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote
1922…Women in Virginia granted suffrage
1923...Alexus Gingers of the Ordo Dracul forcefully obtains praxis, eliminating most of the Carthians and nearly eliminating the Invictus from the city.
1929…Stock market crashed;
1933…The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts opened as the first state-supported art museum in the United States.
1941...The new MCV Hospital (MCV West Hospital) opens to national acclaim
1947...The first civilian burn unit in the country was established at MCV under the direction of Dr. Everett Evans
1968...Virginia Commonwealth University is created through the merger of Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia
1948…WTVR Channel 6 became the first TV station in the south.
1963…Confederate Receipt Book Published. A compilation of over One Hundred Recipes that have been adapted to the (Times)
1970…Richmond Coliseum opened.
1983...The Romanesque-style mansion known as Maymont House was completed
1985…The Diamond, home of the Richmond Braves baseball team, opened only seven months after construction began.
1990…Richmond native L. Douglas Wilder became the nation's first black governor.
1994...Gabriel Seizes praxis with the assistance of the Ordo Dracul as the Ordo Dracul hunt down their now defunct Prince, Alexus Gingers.
1999…The Canal Walk opened in downtown Richmond.
2000…The Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was formed.
2004…The Children's Garden at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden holds private showing in preparation of 2005 opening.
Early 2005... The stability of the city is rocked as Prince after prince obtains the position.
Mid 2005.... Esteemed Cardinal Unkept is destroyed at the hands Dimitri in a bloody and controversial Praxis seizure
Late 2005.... Gabrael obtains prince. Hampton Roads closes its boarders to Richmond, citing the instability of the city as reason.