The War Horse at Virginia Historical Society

WHAT: The War Horse at the Virginia Historical Society on The Boulevard, Richmond, Va.

LOCATION: 428 North Boulevard, Museum District.

ARTIST: Tessa Pullan.

DEDICATION: September 17, 1997.

DESCRIPTION: The bronze horse sculpture is mounted on a six-foot base and surrounded by a high iron fence. The statue stands in front of the Virginia Historical Society on The Boulevard. The War Horse is a memorial to the Civil War horse, designed by Tessa Pullan of Rutland, England, and given to the historical society by Paul Mellon.

An inscription on the granite reads:

In memory of the one and one half million horses and mules of the Confederate and Union armies who were killed, were wounded or died from disease in the Civil War. 

* * *

The first thing most people notice with the statue is the ribs. The horse is intentionally gaunt and overly thin, indicating how difficult it must have been for the dedicated domesticated animals during the Civil War. The best time to see the statue may be at night, as a floodlight focused on The War Horse helps cast a huge shadow on the granite walls of the VHS.  Take a walk or drive by on The Boulevard some evening to see for yourself.

‘The Dancing Man’ at Church Hill’s Bellevue School

WHAT: “The Dancing Man” statue at Bellevue Elementary School in Richmond’s Historic Church Hill District.

LOCATION: 2301 East Grace Street.

ARTIST: Allen Jessee.

DEDICATION: 1978.

DESCRIPTION: Bronze figure of an odd man with what appears to be a tutu from certain angles. The tails of his coat are upturned in the wind, giving the impression of wings.

Zero Milestone marker is an easy point to miss

WHAT: Zero Milestone marker

LOCATION: Just east of the intersection of Grace and 9th streets at the northwestern corner of Virginia State Capitol Square, downtown Richmond, Va.

ARTIST: Unknown.

DEDICATION: 1929

DESCRIPTION: The three-foot tall stone and bronze marker is the is the official Virginia highway point of measurement of distances from Richmond for Virginia. The indiscrete marker is an easy point to miss among the many sculptures and monuments on the grounds of Capitol Square. An inscription says “Zero Milestone, Virginia Highways.” It is located at N 37° 32.380 W 077° 26.046 18S E 284947 N 4157525.

Very Richmond #11: Morgan Fountain in Shockoe Slip

If you have ever walked the Very Richmond cobblestone streets of Shockoe Slip, it would be near impossible to miss the fountain that resides in front of the Martin Agency and the many restored warehouses and storefronts in the area.

From the Shockoe Slip website:

The predominantly Italianate style brick and ironfront buildings, with the ornamental renaissance-style fountain create a European flavor. An ornate fountain in the center of the plaza dates from 1905 and originally supplied water for the teams of horses that once hauled goods through the area. The fountain has an urn-type design in the Italian Renaissance style, with an octagonal base in solid stone. Charles S. Morgan donated the fountain whose inscription on one side reads “In memory of one who loved animals.”

Blessing of the Animals is on Friday, December 10, around the historic Morgan Fountain in Shockoe Slip in downtown Richmond. From the Shockoe Slip website:

This event is scheduled annually for noon on the second Friday in December. It has taken place every year since 1992 and is intentionally brief (about 30 minutes) so people can participate during their lunch hour and local businesses are encouraged to make it a “pet-friendly” day at the office.

Monument to Maggie L. Walker would be fitting tribute to her & Richmond

A resolution to support a monument to famed Richmonder Maggie Lena Walker has passed through Richmond City Council.

She was an educator and is best known for being the first woman to charter and serve as president of a bank in the United States. Her home in the 100 block of E. Leigh Street in Jackson Ward is a federally protected National Historic Site. She was born in Richmond in 1867 and died here in 1934. She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

NBC12’s Laura Geller wrote:

In a city of monuments, leaders want this monument to be a big deal. They do not want something that will blend into the background, but a statue that will make people think about the accomplishments of the first African-American woman to run a bank…Under the ordinance, the city will study if the intersection of Broad Street, Adams Street and Brook Road will make for a good location. Originally, [Councilman Charles] Samuels wanted the statue to go on Monument Avenue but he’s been convinced Jackson Ward is the perfect place. The project will be funded through private donations.

Richmond is a city of monuments and Jackson Ward is the perfect place for this one. With all the economic growth and physical improvements to the neighborhood once known as the “Harlem of the South” and the “Black Wall Street of America” because of its reputation as a center for both black commerce and entertainment.

According to CBS6’s Mark Holmberg:

Currently, only a large tree sits in that triangle made by the three intersecting roads downtown, just a few blocks from where Walker’s Consolidated Bank & Trust now sits. But there’s much more standing in the way. Specifically, funding, as the last portion of the resolution points out. The city council vote was largely symbolic, noting the city will have to make sure it owns that triangle before it can even consider using it for this monument.

Knowing who owns the quirky triangle is important [locator map]. It would be a shame for that tree to go, but that much-improved section of the Broad Street corridor could use another attraction to continue its resurgance.

Marcus S. Jones Jr., 1971 graduate of Maggie Walker High School and president of the Maggie L. Walker Statue Foundation. He said to CBS6’s Holmberg: “I’m going to try to get a grant, written for $500,000 to a million dollars.”

As I did when I wrote about my proposed statue to Lewis Ginter, let’s use Richmond’s statue honoring tennis champion and Richmond native Arthur Ashe as a comparison.   

Ashe is honored with a 12 foot tall bronze statue at Monument Avenue and Roseneath Road that stands on a 87,000 pound granite block and rises 28 feet above the street. It was created by artist Paul Di Pasquale and was dedicated in July 1996 with a cost of nearly $450,000 (according to figures from the Richmond Times-Dispatch).   

If the property transfer brings no larger cost to the city than the tree removal and some cosmetic work, a monument to Maggie L. Walker in that spot could cost between $500,000 and $750,000, depending on the artist and scale of the monument. The size of the triangle should keep the sculpture to a scale similar to that of Bill Bojangles Robinson, which conveniently resides four blocks away north on Adams Street, forming a nice bookend of sorts for Jackson Ward.