American Civil War Center The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar is the nation's first museum to interpret the Civil War from Union, Confederate, and African American perspectives. Educational programs, conferences and symposia, lectures, and public programs help to tell the whole story of the conflict that still shapes our nation. The signature exhibit, In the Cause of Liberty, explores the war's causes, course, and legacies through the essential perspectives of the war's main participant groups.
Capital Building of Virginia The Capitol of Virginia was moved to Richmond during the American Revolutionary War and has remained the capitol since 1780, and it houses the oldest legislative body in the United States, the Virginia General Assembly. It is one of only 12 state capitols in the United States that does not have an external dome. Thomas Jefferson is credited with the architectural design of the Virginia State Capitol building, which was modeled after the Maison Carree at Nîmes in southern France, an ancient Roman temple.
Chimborazo Medical Museum The city of Richmond, capital of the Confederacy and primary target of Union campaigns, was also the central destination for thousands of Confederate soldiers wounded on the battlefields of Virginia during the Civil War. Realizing that a long war and thousands more casualties lay ahead, Southern leaders ordered the construction of five general hospitals in Richmond. The largest of these was Chimborazo. Today the Chimborazo Medical Museum houses a collection of equipment used by the doctors and nurses who tended to the soldiers of the Confederacy. Exhibits include a 17-minute film and a diorama of the hospital.
Hollywood Cemetery Much more than a cemetery, Hollywood is a living story in stone, iron, and landscape. It recalls Virginians of bygone years whose lives shaped and influenced our own. With stunning views, Hollywood overlooks the James River, near the site where Captain Christopher Newport planted a wooden cross a few weeks after the founding of Jamestown. Hollywood Cemetery was designed in 1847 by the noted architect, John Notman of Philadelphia, and has been operating as a cemetery in Richmond since 1849. Hollywood serves as the final resting place of two American presidents, six Virginia governors, two Supreme Court justices, twenty-two Confederate generals, and thousands of Confederate soldiers. Hollywood’s paths wind through 135 acres of valleys, over hills, and beneath stately trees of natural beauty and tranquility. The architectural beauty of monuments, statues, buildings, fences, and tombs enhances the setting.
Monument Avenue One of America's most beautiful boulevards, tree-lined Monument Avenue is the only street in the United States that is a National Historic Landmark. After the Civil War, statues were erected on Monument Avenue to honor Confederate heroes. These include Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army, General "Stonewall" Jackson and General J.E.B. Stuart.
St. John’s Church St. John's Church became famous as a living memorial to American liberty when 120 Virginia colonial leaders including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Nelson, Jr., and Patrick Henry met there in the spring of 1775 to avoid the wrath of Royal Governor Lord Dunmore in Williamsburg. The Second Virginia Convention originally called to consider the recent proceedings of America's first Continental Congress became the setting for Patrick Henry's bold call for arming the colony of Virginia.
Tuckahoe Plantation Situated on the James River, just seven miles west of Richmond, this extraordinary colonial plantation is considered one of the most complete existing 18th century plantation layouts in North America. Originally settled by the Randolph family of in the early 18th-century, a numerous and influential family, the Randolph's helped shape the early politics of the colony and the nation. Tuckahoe is the only early Randolph home still standing on its original site. From 1745 until 1752, Tuckahoe was the boyhood home of America's third president and founding father, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson began his studies as a young boy in the one-room schoolhouse that still stands today.
Tredegar Iron Works Tredegar Iron Works, named for an iron works in Wales, covered nearly five acres during the Civil War and operated day and night to satisfy the demands of the Confederacy for artillery, ammunition, and other war-related materials. Tredegar is credited with the production of approximately 10,000 artillery pieces during the war which was about half of the South's total domestic production of artillery between the war years of 1861-1865. The foundry made the 723 tons of armor plating that covered the CSS Virginia (the former USS Merrimack), which fought the first battle between ironclad warships in March 1862. Today, the Tredegar Iron Works serves as the main visitor center for the Richmond National Battlefield Park. It includes three floors of exhibits with unique artifacts on loan from other Civil War history institutions.
Virginia Historical Society The Virginia Historical Society was founded in 1831. Like most of the nation's older historical societies, it has always been a private organization; one that derives virtually all its support from membership and endowment. At the organizational meeting in 1831, Chief Justice John Marshall was elected its first president, and former president James Madison was elected its first honorary member. The neoclassical structure that houses the library and headquarters of the Virginia Historical Society, Battle Abbey, was built in five stages over a period of years from 1912 to 1992. The first part, completed in 1913, was built by the Confederate Memorial Association as a shrine to the Confederate dead and as a repository for the records of the Lost Cause. In 1946, the Confederate Memorial Association merged with the Virginia Historical Society.
Virginia House Virginia House was completed a few months before the stock market crash of 1929. Alexander and Virginia Weddell's home, situated on a hillside overlooking the historic James River in Richmond, Virginia, was constructed from the materials of a sixteenth century English manor house. Although Virginia House was a blend of three romantic English Tudor designs, it was for its time a thoroughly modern home complete with seven full baths, central heat, modern kitchen, and commodious closets. Mrs. Weddell's talents as an interior designer are evident as the visitor moves through rooms decorated with English and Spanish antiques, silk draperies, Oriental carpets, and fine silver and china. Now owned and operated by the Virginia Historical Society as a museum, the house has been preserved much as it was when the Weddells resided there.
The Whitehouse and Museum of the Confederacy Located in the historic Court End district of downtown Richmond, the Whitehouse of the Confederacy is one of the nation’s finest historic, architectural and decorative treasures. As the official residence of the first and only President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War – Jefferson Davis – the building has earned a unique stature in American history as the social, political and military center of the Confederacy. The Museum of the Confederacy houses the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of Confederate artifacts including the personal belongings of many legendary Confederate generals and those of the common soldier.
