RECENT COMMENTS
Joel Cabot on Power Outage on the Hill
Eric S. Huffstutler on What is up with the Church Hill Post Office?
Eric S. Huffstutler on What is up with the Church Hill Post Office?
Yvette Cannon on What is up with the Church Hill Post Office?
crd on Power Outage on the Hill
Short Quince?
03/23/2008 6:15 AM by John M
This map from 1888, scanned from Chesson’s Richmond After the War 1865-1890, shows some alternate names for the alphabet streets north of Leigh: M, N, O, P, and Q Streets are also labeled as Mason, Nelson, Otis, Pendleton, and Quince Streets, respectively.
That’s pretty neat, they should bring the names back. I also didn’t know that Church Hill was called Marshall Ward.
I agree with the full street names. Going back to the historical names would be wonderful.
A discussion on brining back the original ward desiginations would be interesting. I am not for or against changing them. Does anyone know when or why the desigination of the present names?
I love knowing stuff like that! Now, who were Quince, Otis, Mason, Nelson, and Pendleton? One wonders 🙂
Thanks for the post
I agree with Daniel; I want the original names back.
Do we know for whom the streets were named? Perhaps (and I’m just speculating) they were named for some awful, pro-slavery folks. Something tells me that bringing back those names would be fraught with problems.
An even earlier map in the same book does not have the alternate names. It seems that the letters preceded the names even for some of the currently named streets: the text refers to Clay Street as an alternate name for K Street.
They sound like founding fathers and early Virginia politicians.
Edmund Pendleton (1721–1803), American politician, lawyer, and judge, delegate to the Continental Congress from Virginia
George Mason IV (December 11, 1725 – October 7, 1792) was a United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention
James Otis, a lawyer in colonial Massachusetts who was an early advocate of the political views that led to the American Revolution
Thomas Nelson, Jr. (1738–1789), American planter, soldier, and statesman from Yorktown, Virginia
or Nelson Muntz, A bully in the TV show and movie The Simpsons.
Is that dashed line running along Jefferson Ave. the old trolley? If only it (and the other trolleys) was still in operation….
I’ve got some of the old trolley maps here. Can you just imagine?
I uncovered an obituary in Richmond Visitor for 1809 for a Col. Richard Quince, who died in North Carolina. Could this be the Quince?
John, I have two maps of the neighborhood, from 1876 and 1889, and neither one shows street names like this. These must have been very early. If you want copies, let me know.
Bill… can you shoot me a copy of each to me to: web-czar (at) rcn.com. Thanks!
Fix the (t) with @ and remove the spaces. The hyphen stays 🙂
Eric
seen recently:
1844: K Street is renamed Clay Street in honor of Henry Clay.
How about Cary Street? Was it named after Col. John B. Cary or someone else? Finding that info seems to be a bit fuzzy about the more major streets. All I found is that it use to be called Plank Road and also Westhampton Ave in certain places.
Richmond’s east-west streets were alphabets at one time.
A St became Arch, B became Byrd, C became Canal, D became Cary but west of Belvidere it was Dover, E became Main but west of Belvidere it was Ellwood, F became Franklin, G became Grace, H was Haxall but became Broad, I became Marshall, they skipped J although there was once a Jay St, K became Clay, L became Leigh, and the rest were left offcially as alphabets for some reason. Each of the streets had alternate names from A to Q that appear on the old maps, but I don’t think R through Y had other names.
Steven, I am not sure if Cary is named after John B. Cary but I would believe so. I need to go out and buy my old classmate’s book on Richmond’s streets and how they got their names. However, as I said above, west of Belvidere it was a part of the Town of Syndey’s plan and named Dover St since their streets were also alphabetized (A = Albermarle, B = Beverley whcih became Idlewood, C = Cumberland, E mentioned above, F = Federal which became Floyd, G = Grove, H = Hanover, I = Ivy which became Stuart, again no J, K = Kensington, L = Leonard, M = Marsh, and N = North but the last two never existed). West of Boulevard it was part of Westham Road an ancient road that went to the mountains. That portion’s been named a couple of things through the past including those you’ve found.
I love the history of our streets and roads. I wish they could be protected by the National Register. I’m upset how Henrico has destroyed huge sections of Three Chopt which was a major route to Richmond in the early days. I’d like to find more on the Old Coal Pit Road which I think is basically Broad west of the Boulevard.
There used to be something called the Virginia Place Name Society….I think I’ve got that right. My father, who died in 1970, was part of it. Somewhere around here I have a book of the things they named, and/or figured out where the names came from. I’m not sure if I can find the book right now, it may be two or three months before I can do that because I think I’m moving in two months, but if you guys can hang on, I think it would really be fun to share the book and perhaps reinvent the so-called society in order to figure some of this out!
Harry Kollatz’ True Richmond Stories points out that mid-19th century Richmond historian Samuel Mordecai credits Mary Randolph (1762-1828) with giving Cary Street its name. Her mother’s maiden name was Ann Cary, the daughter of Archibald Cary (plantation owner and statesman). Here is more about Mary Randolph; here is a link to her book (The Virginia Housewife ).
Colonel John Barry Cary was later: he was the Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools 1886-89. [via]
Thanks John… that Archibald Cary sounds familiar.
Greetings, Church Hillians:
Wish I’d stumbled upon this earlier. Yes, those names are quite wonderful and evocative, and yes, named for early U.S. freedom fighters. I’m not sure why they reverted to their alphabet listings, or when.
Queen Molly is indeed given credit by the chatty Mordecai for giving the name of Cary from her grandfather. He was nicknamed “The Old Bruiser” and possessed quite a temper. I wrote about him in the July 2003 Richmond Magazine ‘Flashback.’
Proving it takes all kinds to forge a more perfect union, while Cary pledged his life, fortune and sacred honor to the Revolutionary cause, he was also a jerk. He once threatened to kill Patrick Henry (in fairness, probably not the only one who ever wanted to, either), and historian Allan Crawford in his “Unwise Passions” describes Cary beating slaves that weren’t even his own.
Benedict Arnold burned Cary’s rope factory in Chesterfield, then died broke, and was buried in secret.
His ancestral house, and that of Molly’s, too, Ampt Hill, was picked up from Chesterfield and moved and plopped off West Cary Street.
#19 Harry – Archibald Cary chaired the House of Burgesses, personally funded the Virginia Militia in the Revolution ( reason – he early realized that British-supplied slaves were already becoming a major issue – he owned 200 and had already concluded slavery would not work in America ), co-wrote the Articles of Religious Freedom which pre-dated the Declaration of Independence, and built Ampthill – later moved by descendant Hunsdon Cary, a legislator and gubernatorial candidate in the 1930’s, from Chesterfied to Richmond in 1929. He was tough intellectually and physically -but not what one might call a “jerk”. Whwn Dunsmore closed the House of Burgesses in 1774, Cary pretty much initiated the actions which began the slow process toward war with England.
I just found this string while surfing for Archy Cary stuff. I portray him at Colonial Williamsburg and would love to trade info about him if anybody has more. You can look me up on Facebook or send to my e-mail.