Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia General Assembly merged MCV with the Richmond Professional Institute, founded in 1917, to create Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2022, more than 28,000 students pursued 217 degree and certificate programs through VCU's 11 schools and three colleges. The VCU Health System supports health care education, research, and patient care. It was the only school in the South to have graduated a class every year during the Civil war.
The Fan is a district of Richmond, Virginia, so named because of the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. However, the streets rapidly resemble a grid after they go through what is now Virginia Commonwealth University. The Fan is one of the easterly points of the city's West End section, and is bordered to the north by Broad Street and to the south by VA 195, although the Fan District Association considers the southern border to be the properties abutting the south side of Main Street. The western side is sometimes called the Upper Fan and the eastern side the Lower Fan, though confusingly the Uptown district is located near VCU in the Lower Fan. Many cafes and locally owned restaurants are located here, as well as historic Monument Avenue, a boulevard formerly featuring statuary of the Civil War's Confederate president and generals. The only current statue is a more modern one of tennis icon Arthur Ashe. Development of the Fan district was strongly influenced by the City Beautiful movement of the late 19th century.
The Richmond Professional Institute (RPI) was an educational institution established in 1917 which merged with the Medical College of Virginia to form Virginia Commonwealth University. RPI was located on what is now known as the Monroe Park Campus of VCU. The entire history of RPI can be found in "A History of the Richmond Professional Institute" written by Dr. Henry H. Hibbs Jr. From 1925, it was part of the College of William & Mary and, later, The Colleges of William & Mary.
Oregon Hill is a historic working-class neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia. Oregon Hill overlooks the James River and Belle Isle, and provides access to Hollywood Cemetery. Due to the neighborhood's proximity to the Monroe Park Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, the neighborhood is sometimes referred to as a student quarter because of its high college student population.
Lewis Ginter was a prominent businessman, financier, military officer, real estate developer, and philanthropist centered in Richmond, Virginia. A native of New York City, Ginter accumulated a considerable fortune throughout his numerous business ventures and became one of Richmond's wealthiest citizens despite his exceptionally modest demeanor. While the Jefferson Hotel and Ginter Park embody some of Ginter's major urban contributions to Richmond, many of his philanthropic gifts were given anonymously to charitable organizations and individuals in need. Ginter served in the Confederacy, attaining the rank of major and played a major role in bringing Richmond back from the ravages of the Civil War. His continued devotion to the city is captured in his famous remark, "I am for Richmond, first and last."
The Greater Richmond, Virginia area has many neighborhoods and districts.
The Altria Theater, sometimes referred to as "the Mosque," in Richmond, Virginia, United States is a theater at the southwest corner of Monroe Park on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, and is the largest venue of Richmond CenterStage's performing arts complex. Formerly known as The Mosque and the Landmark Theater, the Altria Theater was originally built for Shriners of the Acca Temple Shrine.
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a 50 acres (200,000 m2), botanical garden in Henrico County, just outside of Richmond, Virginia. It features over a dozen themed gardens, a conservatory, library, and café. Regular daily admission is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors age 65+ and military/first responders, $10 for children, age 3 and under are free. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is part of the Museums for All program offering $1 adult admission and $5 annual membership to those with a SNAP/EBT card. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden also hosts select days, typically July 4 and Labor Day, where admission is free to the community. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden offers seasonal exhibitions, art exhibitions, special events and seasonal evening hours with live music. Tours, classes and select special events typically have an additional fee.
West Hospital is a building on the Medical College of Virginia Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University noted for its Art Deco architecture. It was commissioned by the Federal Works Agency;Public Works Administration and dedicated in 1940. Then known as the "New MCV Hospital", it was the fourth tallest building in Richmond when it opened to national acclaim in 1941, and is still among the tallest.
Court End is a neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, that sits to the north of the Capitol Square and East Broad Street. It developed in the Federal era, after Virginia's capital moved from Williamsburg.
The VCU Medical Center is Virginia Commonwealth University's medical campus located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, in the Court End neighborhood. VCU Medical Center used to be known as the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), which merged with the Richmond Professional Institute in 1968 to create Virginia Commonwealth University. In the 1990s, the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals Authority was created to oversee MCV Hospitals. In 2004, the name of this authority was changed to the VCU Health System, and the MCV Hospitals and surrounding campus were named the VCU Medical Center. The authority oversees the employees and real estate occupied by the five schools within the VCU Medical Center. It was at this time that the MCV Campus moniker was created.
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business is the business school of Virginia Commonwealth University, a public research university in Richmond, Virginia.
St. Andrew's School is a tuition-free school focused on the whole child. It is fully accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS). Richmond philanthropist and social reformer Grace Arents founded the school in 1894. It is located in the historic Oregon Hill neighborhood. The school includes grades K-5 with a total of 96 students.
Scott House, also known as Frederic W. Scott House and Scott-Bocock House, is a historic home located in Richmond, Virginia and is owned by Virginia Commonwealth University as the University's alumni house. The first floor of the historic house is available for university, community and corporate events. Many affairs — including university and alumni receptions and retreats — have occurred at the Scott House since its doors opened in the fall of 2004.
The Bloemendaal House, originally the Lakeside Wheel Club, is a clubhouse in Richmond, Virginia originally built by Lewis Ginter in 1895.
Grace Evelyn Arents was an heiress, Christian activist and philanthropist in Richmond, Virginia. She inherited $1.2 million from her uncle Lewis Ginter, a tobacco magnate, and she continued his philanthropic efforts in the Richmond area.
Sherwood Park is one of several historical neighborhoods that comprise the area known as Northside in the city of Richmond, Virginia.
Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU in Richmond, also known as the VCU Institute for Contemporary Art at the Markel Center, is an arts center at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. It was designed by architecture firm Steven Holl Architects, and built by Gilbane Building Company. Steven Holl Architects was selected from 64 competing architectural firms worldwide, along with local architect, BCWH Architects. Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao, in announcing plans for the ICA in 2011, said that the prominence of the museum's location, "bordering the city's Arts District and in the Broad Street Corridor which links the VCU Monroe Park Campus with VCU's Medical Center" would have symbolic significance. The ICA opened to the public in April, 2018.
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts is a public non-profit art and design school in Richmond, Virginia. One of many degree-offering schools at VCU, the School of the Arts comprises 18 bachelor's degree programs and six master's degree programs. Its satellite campus in Doha, Qatar, VCUarts Qatar, offers five bachelor's degrees and one master's degree. It was the first off-site campus to open in Education City by an American university.
Salisbury was a house and plantation in northwestern Chesterfield County, Virginia in the Southside area of Metro Richmond, Virginia. It was most likely built in the early 1760s by Abraham Salle (c.1732-c.1800), a descendant of Huguenot refugees fleeing persecution in France. Salle's grandfather, also named Abraham (1670–1719), was the immigrant ancestor for most of the Huguenot Salles living in Colonial Virginia. Abraham Salle had "assembled the original 1,500 acre tract between 1760 to 1763" from various parcels of land primarily owned by his uncles William and Robert Wooldridge. The Wooldridges had inherited the land from their father, John "Blacksmith" Wooldridge (c.1678-1757), himself the immigrant ancestor of all Wooldridges living in the American South.
