The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-02-19
The Capitol Square
and What It Needs

AN act OF tho Virginia Assembly
passed in l77a removed the seat or the
State government from WILLIAMSBURG
to Richmond and located the Capitol.
! Hails OF Justice, State House and Exc
cutivc Mansion. The cornerstone Of
the Capitol was laid August IS 1855
and the Assembly convened In it for
tho first time during the session he.
ginning October 10. 1883. though tho
guiding was then unfinished
| Progress was more leisurely in the
| eighteenth than in the nineteenth CEN
fury Some years interviewed before
the Capitol Square was regularly laid
on ana terraced by Frenchman.
| Monsieur Godefroi. Later the terraces
We're removed, and Mr.. hoffman. Of
! Philadelphia, undertook tho improve
| ment IN the west side of the square.
| which hardly corresponds with that OF
the east, the ideas OF the two land
scape artists being evidently different.
| Finally, however, the work OF im-
| provement on the square was consid-
| cred finished, and the Virginia Assem-
bly,, In 1918. ordered the iron fence now
| inclosins 1t to be erected. Band con-
certs several times g week rendered
| 1t In ante bellum days an attractive
! gathering place in summer evenings
L
| city, and flowerbeds and towering
shrubs and trees supplied viva touches (.
or color against the green Of turf and
| foliage
The changes wrought by the War
Between the States have deprived
Richmond people largely Of the pleas
! ure OF using the square as a place OF
delightful resort. But that seems nd
reason why, as the years have pass
cd on, that the work OF ornamcntationS
on grounds surrounding one OF the
| most historic buildings in the city or
State. should have been entirely dis
continued.
Flowers Have Been Bant.hcd.
The flowers. formerly luxuriant and
we'll tended, no longer lend beauty and
| fragrance to grounds that are now
bare without them. Many OF the trees
have been cut down. and others, need
Ing care and attention. are left to slow
decay for lack of it. ~ movement be-
gan with the last meeting Of the Gem
eral Assembly regarding the trees.
which has been followed by no tangf-
BILE results
These trees are valuable asset OF
1 the State. The avenue Of elms form
Ing the approach to the Executive
Mansion, is netting that every Vir-s
ginian should be proud enough Of to
| protect and preserve to It's utmost
limits What Is true Of the elms is
true Of all the others A tree Is a
friend and should be cared for as
such. Trees do not attain their full
growth in the life OF a generation, but
| attention will keep them vigorous for
an unlimited number of years, and in
tclligent attention and treatment Is
what Is badly needed just now In the
square, not indiscriminate looping and
hcwinS, leaving tree wounds that In
vitc injury through exposure.
Old and New Richmond.
| The Richmond OF to-day Is con-
stantly contrasted with the Richmond
Of yesterday. the former being ex-
plotted as a growing city. and the lat IA
ter as a struggling village If 1t be
true that Richmond is II city, it would
seem that the strictly unitarian period
had been outgrown, and that in tho
matter of a rst-estoblished and most
important public park, surrounding tho
| State House. the question OF ornamen-t
tation might be taken into account,
instead Of being dropped out Of IT..
Progression does not mean retrogres-s
sion. such as has set in with the Capt.
toll Square ;sS
Scientific principles In forestry have
been left out Of account in the setting
out Of young trees to replace others
which have fallen or been cut down In
the square. 1t is we'll known that
trees we'll advanced can be transplant
eel to advantage when the transplant
Ing is properly done. In spite OF pro-
gressivcness, however, the young trees
which appear here and there in the.
vacant spaces OF the square, are such
Nero sarings that years must elapse3
before they can come into practical
use. 5