Hotel Richmond
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Once a leading hotel in downtown Richmond, Virginia, the Hotel Richmond overlooks the Thomas Jefferson designed State Capitol in Capitol Square. One of the rare gilded-age hotels built by a woman entrepreneur, the Hotel Richmond is now owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia, which uses it as its Ninth Street Office Building.
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[edit] History
The Hotel Richmond was built in 1904 by entrepreneuse Adeline Detroit Atkinson, with first phase by Harrison Albright and second by John Kevan Peebles, the latter architect of the wings of Virginia's State Capitol on Capitol Square. It sits across Grace Street from St. Paul's Church, and next to St. Peter's Church. It sits on the site of the St. Clare Hotel, which was demolished for the new hotel.
It was one of many distinguished hotels in downtown Richmond that operated in the early part of the 20th Century including the Jefferson Hotel, Hotel Rueger, Murphy's Hotel, Hotel John Marshall and Hotel William Byrd.
[edit] Social History
As the largest hotel immediately adjacent to Richmond's Capitol Square, the hotel had a central place in the political history of the city. For decades, it was the home to the Byrd Machine. In addition, the mezzanine housed WRVA, Richmond's pioneering AM 50,000 watt radio station. Today, it houses many of the leading secretariats of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
[edit] Future Plans
Plans for the renovation of the Hotel Richmond are under way. While it had been under the threat of demolition, those plans have changed. Richmond-based Commonwealth Architects is leading plans for the entire block. In the current plan, the old Murphy Hotel would be razed for parking and office space.
[edit] Links
- Gravesite of Adeline Atkinson
- Historic Richmond Statement on Preservation
- Article on Mrs. Atkinson
- Va. General Services Dept. Historic Info
- Statement on Preservation Options by Richmond's Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods
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