Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-13
THE INDIA HOUSE.
RICHMOND IN OLDEN DAYS.

Ssm, Hsm,enwsnr.s of rtsss rimrs-oid
merchants s.u Their Amb tlsn--A Les.su.
tror the Dspstch.l
my lortship's subtle in Antiquities,
Ard has kept q very nice Intelligence.
Elderly citizens there are In csr midst
who remember the site upon which DIR.
Adams built the well-kncwn India
House. II Is agreed amongst these
citizens that the bulldog took place
about the ear lsl6-'l7, or during that
happy period in our canals known ~
the +" tiush tines" II is also pretty
generally conceded that the lsdia
House was never entirely flushed.
owing, i, is said. 10 che embarrassment
into which the gcnisl but visionary
Adams fell soon after projecting il ;
ard that after bsring been occupied by
various parties 1t burned in fire which
occurred the Sd Of August, lsi5.
A portion. OF tenement, Of this ele-
CANT house was used rs a wareroom BY
the United States customs in 1919, aud,
either before this date or subseq aently,
by the importing firm Of Bonn q Hub
ner. who are said TO have dealt in teas.
silks, and other products Of the far
East. Later on. when its grandeur had
somew hat abated, it was used Ak q ship
chsndleIy by one Walter DAVIS, son Of
the kind.heartod Ezekiel, and its rear
tenements on Nineteenth street con-
ve,ted into a boarding. house kept by
lady Of the name of Burke. A few
wears before its mutilation by fire 1t
wss put to service by various parties.
and is believed to have been occupied
last by X. A. Mayo and +. j. d i. A.
Smith, well-known tobacconists Of that
time.
A gentleman who lived at one time
in its neiehborhood describes 1t as one
Of the most elegant and imposing
structures ever built within the pre-
cincts of the old town. 1t had front
of so feet on Cary street, and ran back
on the line Of Nineteebth street some
100 feet, more OF less, to lot inter-
posed between ii and the Union Hotel.
This lot is known as No. - in YOung's
survey Of Richmond, east Of Shockoe's,
and is remarkable as being the site Of |
the first synagogue ever built within |
the city limits.
The walls Of the India House were Of /
glazed brick, probably brought hither
in ballast from England. Its Cary
street facade was COPIED with stone
from the quarries Of Fredericksburg
the Oldest in the State. Ii had three
high stories or flats that were covered
by slantirg roofs Of tiles or States
It's windows and doors were strength
ened and ornamentcd with stone arches,
and an entrance to its side and rear for
vehicles was effected by two wide gate
ways, one of which fronted Cary street
and the other Nineteenth street.
Elderly citizens who remember so
well the situation and the appearance
Of the India House ara at sea when
questioned as to the particular name by
" hich it went some sixty-fiye or seven
ty years ago. Ii IL variously remem-
bcred as the India House." or ms the
"a Old India House, or as the " East
India House" No one knows whether
il was designed as an catrtp0t for the
East India trade or for the West India
Iiade; but all agree that heavy goods,
rs Tuik's-lsland salt, hOgsheadS of SUI
gar, and puncheons of rum, never en-
tered its precincts whilst the eldest of
ihese elderly citizens is quite confident
hat teas, silks, nankeens, and such
other light stuils, were stored in its
ample wareroOms.
lIordecai dismissed the "Inda
House" with very brief mention, or
rather allusion, at pages 2Si-2S5 of
Ms by Gone Days of Richmond" /
second edition, 1860. lie confounds the 9
house on Cary street with ar other of
he same name on Main street, which is
thought by some to have existed only {
N his imagination. G
of two dozen or more elderly citi- ,
,ens whom ! have questioned concern .
ng the India House, bu, one recalls it q
IS standing on or near Main street. q
This gentleman AYERS that when hc first /;
listed Richmond, in 1929, an old, di- y
apidated frame house standing about 9
he centre of the square on which the q
,osi-oilice is now built was pointed out 9
% him as the India House. This ,
building fronted towards the Capt.
ol Square. Indeed, il is now ascer- l
aimed by me to have been Mrs. q
who lived in it as f,
'arly as, say, the year 1925. You ,
walked down 10 it by falling garden.
Edward Baker, dentist, swung his sign I
'yer the main door Of brick house on <
he corner north Of it. John Wick y
lam, the great lawyer, had an office to \
he east Of II, and the rear Of Mrs.
elegant house filled ont
he measure Of the rear side Of the
quaie between Tenth and Eleventh
trCets. ,
Stree the elderly gentleman just re. =.
cred to so positively recolects an In (,
liza House as standing on this site, why =
nay there not have been two houses in
Richmond Of the same name one de :,
igreo Oet me say by way of conjcc- =
urel for an East India trade, and the
'ther fora West India trade. Why .
hay not the elegant building long and =
avofably known as Mrs. Richard r
On's. fronting on Main and running =
lack by attachments to Bank street. be =
he orc which Mordeca refers 10 in "
hese words: alt contains NS60) a =.
'ank, any number Of insurance offices, =
awyers. doctors, BARRIERS, baths, etc. -
II high rents ~ ,
But whether there were one or two :
india Houses in Richmond. or whether =
me or both were called by ore name or :,
mother" East India" "West In '
Ito " "Old India" or India ~ =
hal not further inquire. TIE meme.
be It one or the other, is suggestive of !
! period in our commercial annals that y
Is we'll worth remembering.
The flush times Of Richmond, and in =
Iced Of Virginia aud the rest of the e
states, eliminated just little after the !,
lose Of the war Of 1912. Unusual ;,
ctivity distinguished every department