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Richmond. 1 City (1990 pop. 87,425), Contra Costa co., W Calif., on San Pablo Bay, an inlet of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1905. It is a deepwater commercial port and an industrial center with oil refineries and railroad repair shops. Along with the port of San Francisco, Richmond functions as the major center of trade with East Asia, Hawaii, and Alaska. The city's diverse manufactures include petroleum, chemicals, metal products, aerospace components, and electronics equipment. Originally part of a Spanish ranch on the site of Native American shell mounds, it was settled in 1823 and then grew with the coming of the Santa Fe RR at the turn of the 20th cent.
2 City (1990 pop. 38,705), seat of Wayne co., E Ind., near the Ohio line; settled 1806 by Quakers from North Carolina, inc. as a city 1840. In the fertile Whitewater River valley, Richmond is primarily an industrial city. Automobile parts, machine tools, hardware, and plastics are manufactured. Earlham College is in the city. Richmond has a symphony orchestra, a historical museum, an art gallery, an arboretum, and a zoo. A state park is nearby.
3 City (1990 pop. 21,155), seat of Madison co., central Ky., in the bluegrass region; inc. 1800. It is a tobacco and livestock (cattle and thoroughbred horses) market. In the Civil War the battle of Richmond (Aug. 30, 1862) was a Confederate victory. Eastern Kentucky Univ. and a U.S. army depot are in the city.
4 Former name of the New York City borough of Staten Island.
5 City (1990 pop. 203,056), state capital, E Va., at the head of navigation on the James River; settled 1637, inc. as a city 1782. It is a port of entry and a financial, commerical, shipping, and distribution center, with a deepwater port. Richmond is a major tobacco market; tobacco and tobacco products are among its leading manufactures. Clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metal items, computer components, and wood and paper products are also produced, and there are printing and publishing enterprises. Extensive suburban growth has marked the city's environs since the 1970s. The city is the seat of the Univ. of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth Univ., Virginia Union Univ., and a theological seminary.
Places of interest include the state capitol (1785), designed by Thomas Jefferson; the Washington Monument; the Valentine Museum; the White House of the Confederacy, once the home of Jefferson Davis and now the Confederate Museum; St. John's Church (1741), where Patrick Henry made his famous "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech; the Edgar Allan Poe Shrine (the oldest building in the city, built c.1686); the Robert E. Lee House (1844); Monument Ave., with its statues of Confederate leaders; Hollywood Cemetery (1847); and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
The first permanent settlement was made in 1637. Fort Charles was built in 1645, and the site became a trading center. The city was laid out in 1737 under the patronage of William Byrd. It was made the capital of Virginia in 1779 and was raided by the British in 1781. During the Civil War, Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy and the constant objective of Union forces. The city was seriously threatened in the Peninsular campaign (1862), when it was saved by the Seven Days battles; in the Wilderness campaign (1864); and in Grant's campaign of 1864–65 around Petersburg, which culminated in Richmond's fall. Much of the city was burned during the Confederate evacuation, Apr. 3, 1865. Richmond National Battlefield Park (see National Parks and Monuments, table) includes several of the battlefields.
See E. M. Thomas, The Confederate State of Richmond (1971); L. White-Raible, Richmond: A Renaissance City (1988).
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