richmond-area history blitzkrieg

Lately we've had more free daylight hours, and have employed ourselves in checking some more local sites off of our list of places to conquer go. We've been thoroughly impressed by all three of our recent adventures, and as always, we highly recommend taking advantage of the places of historical interest you're lucky enough to have within a few minutes of your door.

The Virginia Historical Society

The Virginia Historical Society is really, truly a must-see for Richmond residents. I think I visited the museum in high school, and had very little memory of what I had seen when I went back earlier this month. Of course it contains a very comprehensive summary of Virginia's history dating all the way back to its humble beginnings as the (for-profit!) Virginia Company, but there's a lot more to see. They have scores of vintage Virginia-produced items, from Miller & Rhoads hats to jars of our favorite Meat Juice to an actual Richmond trolley car.


I also just realized that the Historical Society puts its lectures up for download. Get on it!

Wilton

I came across Wilton's web site several years ago and couldn't believe I hadn't been there. I felt a little ashamed, even, having been as far away as Savannah, GA and Salem, MA to drown myself in history, and not having first visited all the house museums in Richmond first. That feeling of shame continued until this month, when we finally got a chance to pay Wilton a visit.

First of all, the place is just gorgeous. Impressive staircase, check. Impressive oil paintings of previous residents, check. Impressive dining room paneled in an icy gray, check. I love it and can't wait to move in. Ha, I wish.

A highlight for me was seeing a beautiful map that William Randolph (the house's original owner) worked on with Peter Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's dad. Mr. Randolph's study was also decked out as it would have been if he were entertaining, and the accoutrements included some raw oysters that were as lovely as they were fake.

Shirley Plantation

Shirley Plantation is another one that falls into the "can't believe I missed this one" category, because I've been trolling the rt. 5 plantations for years and I've visited way lesser ones and never made it to the MAIN EVENT. I love this place. It's opulent in a very comfortable way, without seeming excessive. The James rages (or at least right now it does, because the river's quite high) just outside the back door, and I can only imagine the incredible sunsets you could witness from the balcony with a whiskey in hand.

I love that the Hill/Carter family were the original residents and still own the place today. The current heir lives upstairs in the house, which is why you can only tour the downstairs. It's very unusual for a house to pass straight down the family line for so long, pretty much all the historical houses you visit are in their 3rd or 4th dynasties at the very least. The family's tenacity for holding on to what is theirs is astounding. When the owner during the Civil War found out that the yankees were on their way, he buried the family's beautiful silver all around the yard. They never found it, and after they left he dug it back up. It's in their dining room right now, with the family crests still etched into the silver perfectly. Though the yankees robbed them blind as per usual, they took pity on the wounded yankee soldiers who had been deposited in their yard, and treated them so kindly that they got a formal letter of thanks from General McClellan. That's what I call true Virginians of the gentleman class: dignity and kindness even in the face of the enemy.