Fulton Hill
Encyclopedia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The name is used for the area stretching from Gillies Creek to the Richmond city limits, often including Fulton Bottom and Montrose Heights. The zip code is 23231.
History
Tradition holds that Christopher NewportChristopher Newport
Christopher Newport was an English seaman and privateer. He is best known as the captain of the Susan Constant, the largest of three ships which carried settlers for the Virginia Company in 1607 on the way to find the settlement at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, which became the first permanent...
and John Smith
John Smith of Jamestown
Captain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...
first met with Parahunt, Powhatan
Powhatan
The Powhatan is the name of a Virginia Indian confederation of tribes. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 of these native Powhatan people in eastern Virginia when the English settled Jamestown in 1607...
's son, in May of 1607 at this point. In the early 18th century, a ferry was established from a property at the bottom owned by Robert Rocketts to connect the north and south sides of the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
. A neighborhood of low-slung, single-story homes emerged here after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and the area was annexed by Richmond from Henrico County
Henrico County, Virginia
Henrico is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2010, Henrico was home to 306,935 people. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in 1905.
By the 1960s, the area at the base of the hill bordering Gilies Creek, known as "Fulton Bottom," was mostly home to low and middle income African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s. The housing stock was regarded as rather shabby, and after severe flood damage in the early 1970s, the entire Fulton Bottom community was completely demolished, marking Richmond's only neighborhood-wide urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
slum clearance.
Residents were promised rehabilitation and new construction, but the space once occupied by Fulton lay empty for a full decade before construction of moderate-income housing began. Many regard the failure to replace the razed housing in Fulton as one of the central failures of the city's urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
plans.
Fulton Hill Today
The area above the floodplain is an intact urban neighborhood, with a working class character and population. The area is seeing renovation and rehabilitation on the upswing after years of neglect, thanks in large part to dedicated community action to tackle criminal activity, and also to rising property prices in other parts of the city. Fulton Hill's population is primarily African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, but an increasing number of white
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
residents have purchased homes in the neighborhood in recent years, making the neighborhood one of Richmond's most diverse.
Neighborhood businesses, most of which are located along Williamsburg Road, include a Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
branch, several convenience stores and service stations
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
, a Family Dollar
Family Dollar
Family Dollar is a regional chain of variety stores in the United States. It opened in 1959 and operates approximately 6,617 stores in 44 states and the District of Columbia. It is headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina....
store and the popular Krispies Fried Chicken
Fried chicken
Fried chicken is a dish consisting of chicken pieces usually from broiler chickens which have been floured or battered and then pan fried, deep fried, or pressure fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior...
restaurant.
Fulton Hill has a large stock of early-20th-century vernacular homes, especially 1- and -story bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
s, but also including a number of increasingly trendy Sears Catalog homes
Sears Catalog Home
Sears Catalog Homes were ready-to-assemble kit houses sold through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Company, an American retailer. Over 70,000 of these were sold in North America between 1908 and 1940. Shipped via railroad boxcars, these kits included all the materials needed to build a house...
and several semi-detached Federal rows that date to the earlier years of settlement.
The neighborhood is also home to Richmond National Cemetery
Richmond National Cemetery
Richmond National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located three miles east of the city of Richmond in Henrico County, Virginia. It encompasses , and as of the end of 2005, had 9,322 internments. It is currently closed to new interments...
, a veteran's cemetery dating to the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
with 9,322 interments. An album by the band Alabama Thunderpussy
Alabama Thunderpussy
Alabama Thunderpussy was a Stoner metal band from Richmond, Virginia. It was founded by Bryan Cox, Erik Larson and Asechiah Bogdan in 1996.-History:...
is named "Fulton Hill" after the community.