Richmond, Virginia, United States

🇺🇸 Richmond is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is the centre of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond Region. Richmond was incorporated in 1742 and has been an independent city since 1871.

Richmond is at the fall line of the James River, 44 miles (71 km) west of Williamsburg, 66 miles (106 km) east of Charlottesville, 91 miles (146 km) east of Lynchburg and 92 miles (148 km) south of Washington, D.C. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64 and encircled by Interstate 295, Virginia State Route 150 and Virginia State Route 288. Major suburbs include Midlothian to the south-west, Chesterfield to the south, Varina to the south-east, Sandston to the east, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west and Mechanicsville to the north-east.

The site of Richmond had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown from 1609 to 1611. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737. It became the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780, replacing Williamsburg. During the Revolutionary War period, several notable events occurred in the city, including Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech in 1775 at St. John's Church, and the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom written by Thomas Jefferson. During the American Civil War, Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. It entered the 20th century with one of the world's first successful electric streetcar systems. The Jackson Ward neighbourhood is a traditional hub of African-American commerce and culture.

Richmond's economy is primarily driven by law, finance, and government, with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as notable legal and banking firms in the downtown area. The city is home to both a U.S. Court of Appeals, one of 13 such courts, and a Federal Reserve Bank, one of 12 such banks. Dominion Energy and WestRock, Fortune 500 companies, are headquartered in the city, with others in the metropolitan area.

Economy Richmond's strategic location on the James River, built on undulating hills at the rocky fall line separating the Piedmont and Tidewater regions of Virginia, provided a natural nexus for the development of commerce. Throughout these three centuries and three modes of transportation, the downtown has always been a hub, with the Great Turning Basin for boats, the world's only triple crossing of rail lines, and the intersection of two major interstates.

Law and finance have long been driving forces in the economy. Richmond is particularly known for its bankruptcy court. The city is home to both the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, one of 13 United States courts of appeals, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks, as well as offices for international companies such as Genworth Financial, Capital One, Philip Morris USA, and numerous other banks and brokerages. Richmond is also home to four of the largest law firms in the United States: Hunton & Williams, McGuireWoods, Williams Mullen, and LeClairRyan. Another law firm with a major Richmond presence is Troutman Sanders, which merged with Richmond-based Mays & Valentine LLP in 2001.

Since the 1960s Richmond has been a prominent hub for advertising agencies and advertising related businesses. One of the most notable Richmond-based agencies is The Martin Agency, founded in 1965 and currently employing 500 people. As a result of local advertising agency support, VCU's graduate advertising school (VCU Brandcenter) is consistently ranked the No. 1 advertising graduate program in the country.

Richmond is home to the rapidly developing Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, which opened in 1995 as an incubator facility for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Located adjacent to the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, the park currently has more than 575,000 square feet (53,400 m²) of research, laboratory and office space for a diverse tenant mix of companies, research institutes, government laboratories and non-profit organisations. The United Network for Organ Sharing, which maintains the nation's organ transplant waiting list, occupies one building in the park. Philip Morris USA opened a $350 million research and development facility in the park in 2007. Once fully developed, park officials expect the site to employ roughly 3,000 scientists, technicians and engineers.

Richmond's revitalised downtown includes the Canal Walk, a new Greater Richmond Convention Center, and expansion on both VCU campuses. A new performing arts centre, Richmond CenterStage, opened on September 12, 2009. The complex included a renovation of the Carpenter Center and construction of a new multipurpose hall, community playhouse, and arts education centre in parts of the old Thalhimers department store.

Richmond is also fast-becoming known for its food scene, with several restaurants in the Fan, Church Hill, Jackson Ward and elsewhere around the city generating regional and national attention for their fare. Departures magazine named Richmond "The Next Great American Food City" in August 2014. while Metzger Bar & Butchery made its "Best New Restaurants: 12 To Watch" list. Craft beer, cider and liquor production is also growing in the River City, with twelve micro-breweries in city proper; the oldest is Legend Brewery, founded in 1994. Two cideries, Buskey Cider and Blue Bee Cider, are located in the popular beverage neighborhood of Scott's Addition, and are joined by nine breweries, one meadery, and one distillery. Three distilleries, Reservoir Distillery, Belle Isle Craft Spirits and James River Distillery, were established in 2010, 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Additionally, Richmond is gaining attention from the film and television industry, with several high-profile films shot in the metro region in the past few years, including the major motion picture Lincoln which led to Daniel Day-Lewis's third Oscar, Killing Kennedy with Rob Lowe, airing on the National Geographic Channel and Turn, starring Jamie Bell and airing on AMC. Richmond was the main filming location for the PBS drama series Mercy Street, which premiered in Winter 2016. Several organizations, including the Virginia Film Office and the Virginia Production Alliance, along with events like the Richmond International Film Festival and French Film Festival, continue to draw supporters of film and media to the region.

Fortune 500 companies and other large corporations The Greater Richmond area was named the third-best city for business by MarketWatch in September 2007, ranking behind only the Minneapolis and Denver areas and just above Boston. The area is home to six Fortune 500 companies: electric utility Dominion Resources; CarMax; Owens & Minor; Genworth Financial, MeadWestvaco/ WestRock, and Altria Group. However, only Dominion Resources is headquartered within the city of Richmond; the others are located in the neighboring counties of Henrico and Hanover. In 2008, Altria moved its corporate HQ from New York City to Henrico County, adding another Fortune 500 corporation to Richmond's list. In February 2006, MeadWestvaco announced that they would move from Stamford, Connecticut, to Richmond in 2008 with the help of the Greater Richmond Partnership, a regional economic development organization that also helped locate Aditya Birla Minacs, Amazon.com, and Honeywell International, to the region. In July 2015, MeadWestvaco merged with Georgia-based Rock-Tenn Company creating WestRock Company.

Other Fortune 500 companies, while not headquartered in the area, do have a major presence. These include Atlanta based SunTrust Banks, Capital One (officially based in McLean, Virginia, but founded in Richmond with its operations centre and most employees in the Richmond area), and medical and pharmaceutical giant McKesson Corporation (based in Las Colinas, Texas). Capital One and Philip Morris USA are two of the largest private Richmond-area employers. DuPont maintains a production facility in South Richmond known as the Spruance Plant. UPS Freight, the less-than-truckload division of United Parcel Service has its corporate headquarters in Richmond.

Other companies based in Richmond include engineering specialists CTI Consultants, chemical company NewMarket; Brink's, a security and armoured car company; Estes Express Lines, a freight carrier, Universal Corporation, a tobacco merchant; Cavalier Telephone, now Windstream, a telephone, internet, and digital television provider formed in Richmond in 1998; Cherry Bekaert & Holland, a top 30 accounting firm serving the Southeast; the law firm of McGuireWoods; Elephant Insurance, an insurance company subsidiary of Admiral Group and Media General, a company specialising in broadcast media.

Museums and monuments Several of the city's large general museums are located on or near the Boulevard, the so-called Museum District. The Virginia Historical Society and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts are on the Boulevard. Nearby is the Science Museum of Virginia, housed on Broad Street in the neoclassical former 1919 Broad Street Union Station. Immediately adjacent is the Children's Museum of Richmond, and two blocks away is the Virginia Center for Architecture. Downtown has the Library of Virginia and the Valentine Richmond History Center. The city also has the Virginia Holocaust Museum and the Old Dominion Railway Museum.

Richmond is home to several American Civil War museums and battlefields. The Richmond National Battlefield Park Visitors Center and the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar are near the riverfront, both housed in the former buildings of the Tredegar Iron Works, where much of the South's war ordnance was produced. In Court End, near the Virginia State Capitol, is the Museum of the Confederacy and the Davis Mansion, also known as the Confederacy's White House. Both feature a wide variety of objects and material from the era. The temporary home of General Robert E. Lee still stands Downtown on Franklin Street.

The history of slavery and emancipation are increasingly being represented in the city. There is a former slave trail along the river that leads to Ancarrow's Boat Ramp and Historic Site, which has been developed with interpretive signage. In 2007, the Reconciliation Statue was placed in Shockoe Bottom, with corresponding statues installed in Liverpool and Benin representing points in the Triangle Trade. Most of the statues honoring Confederate leaders on Monument Avenue were removed during or after the racial justice protests of June 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Contemporaneously, protestors also toppled the monument to Christopher Columbus, whose reputation has suffered for his treatment of indigenous people, throwing it in Fountain Lake on June 9, 2020. The city removed the last Confederate statue, honoring General A. P. Hill, on December 12, 2022. The only statue remaining on Memorial Avenue is of Arthur Ashe, the pioneering Black tennis player. The Bill "Bojangles" Robinson monument in Jackson Ward was untouched during the protests and remains in place.

Other historical points of interest include St. John's Church, the site of Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech, and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum features many of his writings and other artifacts of his life, particularly when he lived in the city as a child, student, and successful writer. The John Marshall House, home of the former Chief Justice of the United States, is also Downtown and features many of his writings and objects from his life. Hollywood Cemetery is where two U.S. Presidents and many Civil War officers and soldiers are buried. Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives collects, preserves, and exhibits materials that focus on Jewish history and culture specifically connected to Richmond.

Located near Byrd Park is the famous World War I Memorial Carillon, a 56-bell carillon tower. Dedicated in 1956, the Virginia War Memorial is located on Belvedere overlooking the river and is a monument to Virginians who died in battle in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.

Agecroft Hall is a Tudor manor house and estate located on the James River in the Windsor Farms neighborhood of Richmond. The manor house was built in the late 15th century and was originally located in the Agecroft area of Pendlebury, in the historic county of Lancashire in England.

Visual and performing arts Musicians of note associated with Richmond include Jason Mraz, Jimmy Dean, Agents of Good Roots, Aimee Mann, Alabama Thunderpussy, Avail, Broadside, Carbon Leaf, Cannabis Corpse, Cracker, D'Angelo, Denali, Down to Nothing, Engine Down, Four Walls Falling, Iron Reagan, Lamb of God, Lil Ugly Mane, Lucy Dacus, Municipal Waste, Nickelus F, River City High, Sparklehorse, Strike Anywhere, Chris Brown, Eric Stanley, Bad Omens, and Fighting Gravity. Richmond is also home of GWAR, a heavy metal art collective based in a Scott's Addition warehouse.

Murals With the Richmond Mural Project (RMP), sponsored by RVA Mag and Art Whino, and 2013's RVA Street Art Festival, the city quickly gained more than 100 murals created by international mural artists, such as Aryz, Roa, Ron English, and Natalia Rak. While the RMP focused on international talent, the RVA Street Art Festival, led by long-time local mural artist Ed Trask, focused mainly on regional artists, although it was responsible for PoseMSK, Jeff Soto, and Mark Jenkins. After some criticism, the RMP included its first local artist, Nils Westergard, who already was on the international circuit, and then another, Jacob Eveland. The two festivals were unrelated, and the RMP is now defunct. The RVA Street Art Festival occurs as funding permits. In response to the George Floyd protests of the summer of 2020, local artist Hamilton Glass spearheaded the Mending Walls Project, featuring walls by pairs of local artists.

Professional performing companies From their earliest days, Virginia and Richmond welcomed live theatrical performances. Lewis Hallam staged early Shakespeare productions in Williamsburg, and Richmond became a prominent colonial and early 19th century performance place for celebrated American and English actors, like William Macready, Edwin Forrest, and the Booth family. In the 20th century, Richmond had many amateur troupes and regular touring professional productions. The growth of professional dinner theaters and the Virginia Museum's support of theater in the 1960s led to two significant developments in the 1970s. First, a resident Equity company was established at the Virginia Museum Theater (now the Leslie Cheek). Second, Theatre IV was created, continuing to this day as the Virginia Repertory Theatre: • Virginia Repertory Theatre is Central Virginia's largest professional theatre organization. It is led by Artistic Director Bruce Miller and Managing Director Phil Whiteway. It was created in 2012, when Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV merged after sharing one staff member for over a decade. With an annual budget of over $5 million, the theatre employs over 240 artists and presents a season at the November Theatre and Theatre Gym at Virginia Rep Center, with productions at the Hanover Tavern and The Children's Theatre in The Shops at Willow Lawn. The historic November Theatre opened in 1911 as the Empire Theatre, offering stock and vaudeville performances. In 1915, it changed its name to the Strand, operating until 1927, when fire damaged. It reopened in 1933 as the "Booker T", and during segregation was Richmond's leading black movie house. It closed in 1974 and sat idle until real estate developer Mitchell Kambis rescued and renovated it, restoring the Empire name. In 1979, he leased it to Keith Fowler, artistic director of the American Revels Company, which restored live professional theater to Downtown. Theatre IV succeeded Revels in 1984. On its 100th anniversary in 2011, the theatre was further restored when Sara Belle and Neil November gifted $2 million to Theatre IV and Barksdale. The November now serves as Virginia Repertory's headquarters, anchoring the Arts District. • Richmond Ballet, founded in 1957. • Richmond Triangle Players, founded in 1993, delivers theater programs exploring themes of equality, identity, affection and family across sexual orientation and gender spectrums. • Richmond Symphony. • Virginia Opera, the Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia, was founded in 1974. Presents eight main-stage performances annually at the Carpenter Theater.

Other venues and companies Other venues and companies include: • The Altria Theater is the city-owned opera house. • The Leslie Cheek Theater. After lying dormant for eight years, it re-opened in 2011 in the heart of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts at 200 N. Boulevard. The elegant 500-seat proscenium stage, constructed in 1955, matched then-museum director Leslie Cheek's vision of having a theater worthy of a fine arts institution. Operating for years as the Virginia Museum Theater (VMT), it supported an amateur community theater under Robert Telford's direction. When Cheek retired, he advised trustees on the 1969 appointment of Keith Fowler as head of the theater arts division and VMT's artistic director. Fowler's leadership resulted in the city's first resident Actors Equity\LORT theater, which added major foreign authors and new American work premieres. Under his leadership, VMT reached a "golden age", gaining international recognition and over doubling its subscriptions. Successive artistic administrations changed its name to "TheatreVirginia". Deficits caused TheatreVirginia to close its doors in 2002. Now, renovated and renamed for Leslie Cheek, live performance has been restored to VMFA. While not sponsoring a resident company, the Leslie Cheek Theater is available for special theatrical and performance events. • The National Theater is Richmond's premier music venue. It holds 1500 people and has shows regularly throughout the week. Built in 1923, it reopened in the winter of 2007 and features a state-of-the-art V-DOSC sound system, only the sixth installed in the country and only the third installed on the East Coast. • Visual Arts Center of Richmond, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1963, is one of the largest nongovernmental arts learning centres in Virginia. It serves 28,000 individuals annually. • Richmond CenterStage, a performing arts centre that opened in Downtown in 2009 as part of an expansion of earlier facilities. The complex includes the renovated 1,700-seat Carpenter Theater and a new multipurpose hall, community playhouse, and arts education centre in the old Thalhimers department store's location. • The Byrd Theatre in Carytown is a 1920s movie palace that features second-run movies and hosts the French Film Festival. • Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts is consistently ranked as one of the best in the nation. • Dogwood Dell is an amphitheater in Byrd Park where the Richmond Department of Recreation and Parks presents an annual Festival of the Arts. • School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community). SPARC was founded in 1981, training children to become "triple threats", meaning equally versed in singing, acting, and dancing. SPARC has become the largest community-based theater arts education program in Virginia, and it offers classes to every age group during the summer and throughout the year. • Classic Amphitheatre at Strawberry Hill is the former summer concert venue located at Richmond International Raceway.

Commercial art galleries include Metro Space Gallery and Gallery 5 in a newly designated arts district. Not-for-profit galleries include Visual Arts Center of Richmond, 1708 Gallery, and Artspace.

In 2008, a new 47,000 sq ft (4,400 m²) Gay Community Center opened on the city's north side. It hosts meetings of many kinds and includes a large art gallery space.

Literary arts Richmond has long been a hub for literature and writers. Edgar Allan Poe grew up in the city, and the city's oldest stone house is a museum to his life and works. The Southern Literary Messenger, which included his writing, is one of many notable publications started in Richmond. Other noteworthy authors who have called Richmond home include Pulitzer-winning Ellen Glasgow, controversial figure James Branch Cabell, Meg Medina, Dean King, David L. Robbins, and MacArthur Fellow Paule Marshall. Tom Wolfe was born in Richmond, as was Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. David Baldacci graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University, where the creative writing faculty has included Marshall, Claudia Emerson, Kathleen Graber, T. R. Hummer, Dave Smith, David Wojahn, and Susann Cokal. Notable graduates include Sheri Reynolds, Jon Pineda, Anna Journey and Joshua Poteat. A community-based organization, James River Writers, serves the Greater Richmond Region. It sponsors many writer programs for all career stages, and an annual writers' conference that draws attendees from near and far.

Architecture Richmond is home to many significant structures, including some designed by notable architects. The city contains diverse styles and has excellent examples of Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Neoclassical, Egyptian Revival, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, Tudor Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Art Deco, Modernist, International, and Postmodern architecture.

Many of Richmond's historic properties are documented in books and 1970s-era black and white photographs by John G. Zehmer, an architectural historian and preservationist.

The 1865 Evacuation Fire destroyed about 25% of Richmond's early buildings. Fewer remain due to redevelopment and construction occurring since Reconstruction. Nonetheless, Richmond has many historically significant buildings and districts. From the colonial period, there are the Patteson-Schutte House and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond, Virginia), both built before 1750.

Architectural classicism is represented in all city districts, particularly Downtown and in the Fan and the Museum District. Several notable classical architects have designed buildings in Richmond. Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau designed the Virginia State Capitol in 1785. It is the second-oldest U.S. statehouse in continuous use (Maryland's is the oldest), and the first U.S. government building built in the neo-classical style, setting the trend for other state houses and federal buildings, including the White House and The Capitol in Washington, D.C. Robert Mills designed Monumental Church on Broad Street, abutted by the 1845 Egyptian Building, one of the few Egyptian Revival buildings in the U.S.

The firm of John Russell Pope designed Broad Street Station, or Union Station, in the Beaux-Arts style, and it now is home to the Science Museum of Virginia. The firm also designed Branch House on Monument Avenue as a Tudor private residence, which now is the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. Wilson, Harris, and Richards designed Main Street Station, now used for its intended purpose. The classically trained Beaux-Arts architects, Carrère and Hastings, designed both the Jefferson Hotel and the Commonwealth Club. Ralph Adams Cram, renowned for the Princeton University Chapel and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, designed many buildings at the University of Richmond, including Jeter and Ryland Halls.

Richmond's position as a centre of iron production helped to fuel the popularity of its cast-iron architecture. The city is home to a unique collection of cast iron porches, balconies, fences, and finials, second only to New Orleans in cast-iron concentration. At the height of production in the 1890s, 25 foundries operated in Richmond, employing nearly 3,500 metal workers. This number is seven times the number of general construction workers employed at the time, illustrating the importance of iron exports to the city. Porches and fences in urban neighborhoods, such as Jackson Ward, Church Hill, and Monroe Ward, are particularly elaborate, often featuring ornate iron casts never replicated outside of Richmond. In some cases, casts were made for a single residential or commercial application.

Another unique architectural feature to Richmond is outdoor lighting. Former mayor Dwight C. Jones called the city the tacky light capital of the world.

Richmond is home to several notable buildings designed by modernist masters. Minoru Yamasaki designed the Federal Reserve Building, which dominates the downtown skyline. The architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, home to Gordon Bunshaft, designed the Library of Virginia and the General Assembly Offices at the Eighth and Main Building. Philip Johnson designed the WRVA Building. Richard Neutra designed Rice House, a residence on a private James River Island, is Richmond's only true International Style home. Famed early modern architect and member of the Harvard Five, Landis Gores, designed the W.G. Harris residence in Richmond. Steven Holl designed the VCU Institute for Contemporary Art, opened in 2018. Other notable architects to have worked in the Richmond area include Rick Mather and I.M. Pei.

Richmond's urban residential neighborhoods, largely single use town homes with mixed full retail/dining establishments, are keys the city's character. The Fan, the Museum District, Jackson Ward, Carver, Carytown, Oregon Hill, and Church Hill are districts anchored by large streets, such as Franklin Street, Cary Street, the Boulevard, and Monument Avenue. The city's recent population growth mainly has been concentrated in these areas.

Historic districts Richmond's City Code provides for the creation of old and historic districts to "recognize and protect the historic, architectural, cultural, and artistic heritage of the City". Pursuant to that authority, the city has designated 45 districts. Most districts also are listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register ("VLR") and the National Register of Historic Places ("NRHP").

Sport Richmond does not have a major league professional sports team. Since 2013, however, the Washington Commanders of the National Football League have held their summer training camp in the city. The city has several minor league sports franchises, including the Richmond Kickers of USL League One and the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Class AA Double-A Northeast of Minor League Baseball, a San Francisco Giants affiliate. The Kickers began playing in Richmond in 1993, making them the oldest continually operated professional club in the United States. The club now plays home matches at City Stadium. In 2018, the Richmond Kickers left the USL to be founders in Division 3 Soccer. The Squirrels opened their first season at The Diamond on April 15, 2010. From 1966 through 2008, the city was home to the Richmond Braves, a AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball, until the franchise relocated to Georgia.

Richmond is home to the Richmond Black Widows, the city's first women's football team, founded in 2015 by Sarah Schkeeper. The team is in the Women's Football Alliance, which preseason begins in January and regular season in April.

A significant city sports venue is the 6,000-seat Arthur Ashe Athletic Center, a multi-purpose arena named for tennis great and Richmond resident Arthur Ashe. This facility hosts local sporting events, concerts, and other activities. Tennis is popular in Richmond. In 2010, the United States Tennis Association named Richmond the third "Best Tennis Town", after Charleston, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia.

Auto racing is also popular in the area. The Richmond Raceway (RR) has hosted NASCAR Cup Series races since 1953, and the Capital City 400 from 1962 to 1980. RR also hosted IndyCar's SunTrust Indy Challenge from 2001 to 2009. Another track, Southside Speedway, has operated since 1959 and sits just south-west of Richmond in Chesterfield County. This.333 mi (0.536 km) oval short-track is known as the "Toughest Track in the South" and "The Action Track", featuring weekly stock car racing Friday nights. Southside Speedway has seen many NASCAR champions, including Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and Darrell Waltrip. It is the home track of NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin.

Richmond hosted the 2015 UCI Road World Championships, which had cyclists from 76 countries and an estimated beneficial $158.1 million economic impact on the Greater Richmond Region from event staging and visitor spending. The championship course was the first real-world location to be recreated within the indoor cycle training application, Zwift. The application has subsequently added two other UCI world championships courses, Innsbruck from 2018 and Harrogate from 2019

The city is home to the University of Richmond football team, who most notably won the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS National Championship. The team plays its home games at Robins Stadium.

Richmond also has seen recent men's and women's college basketball success in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Richmond Spiders play at the Robins Center and the VCU Rams play at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

Parks and recreation The city operates one of the country's oldest municipal park systems. In 1851, the City Council voted to acquire 7.5 acres (30,000 m²), now known as Monroe Park. Monroe Park is adjacent to the Virginia Commonwealth University campus, and is one of over 40 parks totaling more than 1,500 acres (610 ha).

Several parks are along the James River, and the James River Parks System offers bike trails, hiking and nature trails, and many scenic overlooks. The trails are used for the Xterra East Championship running and mountain biking courses of the off-road triathlon.

Parks exist on two major islands in the James River, Belle Isle and Brown's Island. Belle Isle, a former Powhatan fishing village, colonial-era horse race track, and Civil War prison camp, is the larger of the two. It contains many bike trails and a small cliff used for rock climbing instruction. The island still has many remnants of the Civil War prison camp, including an arms storage room and a gun emplacement used to quell prisoner riots. Brown's Island is smaller and a popular venue for many spring and summer free outdoor concerts and festivals, such as the weekly Friday Cheers concert series and the James River Beer and Seafood Festival.

Two other major city parks along the river are Byrd Park and Maymont, located near the Fan District. Byrd Park features a one mi (1.6 km) running track, with exercise stops, a public dog park, and a number of small lakes for small boats, as well as two monuments, Buddha house and an amphitheater. The World War I Memorial Carillon, built in 1926, features prominently in the park. Maymont, adjacent to Byrd Park, is a 100-acre (40 ha) Victorian estate with a museum, formal gardens, native wildlife exhibits, nature centre, carriage collection, and children's farm. Other city parks include Joseph Bryan Park Azalea Garden, Forest Hill Park (former site of the Forest Hill Amusement Park), and Chimborazo Park (site of the National Battlefield Headquarters).

The James River through Richmond is one of the best urban white-water rafting/canoeing/kayaking sites in the country, and several rafting companies provide related services. The city also has several easily accessed riverside areas for rock-hopping, swimming, and picnicking.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is in adjacent Henrico County. Founded in 1984, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is 80 acres (320,000 m²), one of only two independent public botanical gardens in Virginia, and designated a state botanical garden. A public place for the display and scientific study of plants, it features a glass conservatory, rose garden, healing garden, and accessible-to-all children's garden.

Several theme parks are located near the city, including Kings Dominion to the north, and Busch Gardens to the east, near Williamsburg.