Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-01-05
CHANGES ARE MANY
Few Richmond Families Nov Lire
Where Their Ancestors Did
HOW BROAD STREET WAS FILLED.
RutheSford's Row and How II Came
to lie Built-The Ocean Must Once
Have Covered What Il Now Our
Grent City-Personal "Reminiscences

Have Covered What Il Now Our
Great City-Personal "Reminiscences
Residents OF this city. whose opportu-
mites for accurate observation cannot be
surpassed, aver that there is not a house
on Franklin street between Ninth street
and Richmond College that is now occu-
pied by the persons, or their heirs. who
owned the premises prior to the late
war, with one exception, the premises
occupied by the widow Of FabIus NJ.
lawson, between First and Foushee
streets. Between the points named on
Grace street almost the same absence
of former ownership may be noted, with
the possible exception of the former resi-
dences OF James Thomas. Jr, and Ed
ward Y. Cannon, now occupied by the
heirs OF the former owners. The above
state of affairs is more or less the case
all over the city. The whirligfg OF
time shows, OF course. that the bottom
rail sometimes gets on top in the matter
Of real estate as well as other things.
| DuI IL Is true All lDt llilt tudA Niit 'otA
who emulates the little busy bee in gath
ering honey all the day from every OPEN
| ing flower and slows his pile in a safe
pace or otherwise puts 1t where IL will
do the most good, IL the one who finally
lands on top or in its immediate vicinity,
| socially or financially. This Is the expe-
! rence Of Richmond and every other place.
little or big. I'm these critical and event
full periods" wide Pedros Burtom money
makes the mare CO." and the horse, too.
The years have not been many since
Broad street was impossible from Jail
alley and Mayo street 10 the present
Chesapeake and Ohio depot, on Sixteenth
| street Od-time citizens will remember
I the wooden chute I'm the middle of Broad
street at the point named. which led
precipitately down n decline considerably
over 100 feet IN depth. When IL was de-
! termined to level Council Bunker Hill,
at least to the extent that its Topographic
| cal contour would permit, the dirt was
| used in filling this chasm. Between the
points named and on the north side OF
/ Broad street between that street and the
| city jaiD that venerable citizen, Thomas
| rutherford. owned some land, and he
utilized the hillside created by the filling
i'm of Broad street by erecting lot of
"Rutherfoords Row" Long ago it be-
came fashionable to abuse this locality
! without stint: but it is not the purpose
/ OF the writer to do anything Of the sort.
| He recognizes "Rutherfoord's Row as
one point in Richmond's progress and
would much rather see the houses there,
Indifferent and mean-looking as they may
be, TO seeing bleak hillsides of yellow
clay. dug up from ground, perhaps, over
/ which Noah steered his gigantic canal
boat I'm times remote. 1t is asserted by
/ BIOLOGISTS that in that long-ago period
Richmond had about 100 feet of salt
water lying over her present surface.
/ OF course. GELS, catfish, mulets, and
the succulcnt frog abounded, not to speak
/ of other watcr-gamc Of larger and more
| enduring sort. Anyhow, In various places
about town, and IN some instances, over
/ 100 feet underground. there have been
| found the teeth and vertebrae Of sharks
and other marine parties who have not
been usually accused of swimming around
ON dry land. In proof OF this
| Broad street from Twentieth TO
! Twenty-third street (whore il got into
| Church HID. was not nayigable very
many years ago by any sort Of vehicle.
Pedestrians could descend into deep
/ valley and laboriOusy surmount the hills
going east. and thus get on Church Hin.
The first thing they would see was Du-
puys clearinghouse nov the Bellevue
| public school, and Van LEWIS garden.
Vehicles destined for Church Hill went
up on Twenty-fifth street from Main.
Foot passengers attained the same ele-
walton by means of the "Drick walk
entering on Franklin street, and running
alongside the old Van Lew homestead
on the west. The earth used TO fill up the
many crevices in this vicinity was OBJ
tanned mainly from the base Of Doing's
I'M uhe apex of which Is now used by
the city as park, called Jefferson. Other
dirt used was from the base or Church
Hill in the vicinity OF Twentieth and
Twcnty-hrst streets. Not far from the
base Of the hill near Twentieth was the
tobacco factory and residence OF Mr.
Thomas Cowles. His garden comprised
the square between Nineteenth and
Twentieth streets. the Nineteenth-s'reet
front of which was afterwards sold for
residence purposes 20 MeSsrs. JaireS VI.
and Charles Talbot. Between their resi-
dences were built two or more fine houses,
afterwards occupied by Charles Il. Hill,
John H. Hockaday. James b. Pace, John
NJ. Higgins, and others. From Twentieth
10 Twenty-thrd street, north OF Broad
Henrico county commenced, embracing
Union Hill. upper part OF Nenable street,
Slab Town and all the region between
Twenty-ffth street, west, and lakewood
Cemetery. east, 20 Hustons on the stony
Run road. now called Hardin's Shop and
Battery No. ..
It may be stated that many years
since Colonel Charles ). Morgan, then
Superintendent OF the Penitenuary, in
order TO increase the water-supply OF
the Institution, had a well dug in the
yard which was carried down over one
hundred feet before water was struck.
This carried the excavation some dis
lance below the bottom Of the old James
River and Kanawha canal situated at
the base of the hill on which the prison
Is located Here the diggers struck
Young sharks teeth In quantities TO
suit. At least a quart OF them were
taken up, ami some were as Tine and as
small as a cambria needle" III water
did not once cover Richmond, how did
those teeth get where they were found?
Sections of sharks backbones. weighing
twelve or more pounds, were found when
digging away the hill at the north cor
ner of Broad and Twentieth streets
where Trinity Methodist Episcopal church
il now located. No doubt the ORR
ginaI proprletors SAILED the ocean
blue' I'm this locality millions of years
age. when all OF the present-known earth
from Maryland TO Cape Horn was UNI
der water. And, by the same token
II NAV be conjectured that no self-re-
specting shark willingly left behind him
so important a portion of his anatomy
as a leading portion of his main brace.
He must have succumbed to old age or
Welded I'D his life in battle. This con-
clusion Is inevitable. What would any