The Hotel Richmond was a historic hotel located in Richmond, Virginia . Constructed in phases between 1904 and 1911, it was a rare example of a Gilded Age hotel built by a woman, Adeline Detroit Wood Atkinson . Atkinson turned the facility into a popular meeting spot for Richmond-area politicians, and the hotel acted as the headquarters for numerous political campaigns in the early 20th century. It was also the home of WRVA , the city's first radio station, from 1933 until 1968. After operating as a hotel under various names until 1966, the building was then purchased by the Commonwealth of Virginia . It was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009 as the Ninth Street Office Building , and was dedicated as the Barbara Johns Building in 2017. As of 2018 it housed the Office of the Attorney General .
29-602: Atkinson, a Bedford County native, had come to Richmond in the early 1880s from Lynchburg, Virginia with her husband. She ran boarding houses to supplement the couple's income, eventually running hotels in Richmond as their sole income. By 1904, Atkinson had enough money to purchase the Saint Claire Hotel, which she demolished to make room for her own establishment. The first phase of the Hotel Richmond
58-436: A household in the county was $ 43,136, and the median income for a family was $ 49,303. Males had a median income of $ 35,117 versus $ 23,906 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 21,582. About 5.20% of families and 7.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.30% of those under age 18 and 10.50% of those age 65 or over. As of 2017, the largest self-reported ancestry groups were: Bedford County
87-726: A number of renovations and expansions during the 20th century. Adjacent and immediately north of Capitol Square is the Court End neighborhood, which houses the White House of the Confederacy . During the Civil War , the Virginia State Capitol , also in Richmond, housed offices of the Confederacy. Tours of the mansion are offered several days a week. When Richmond became the capital of Virginia in 1779, there
116-445: A town and end its independent city status. The supervisors of Bedford County also voted to accept the town of Bedford as part of the county when it lost city status. The town of Bedford once more became part of Bedford County on July 1, 2013. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 769 square miles (1,990 km ), of which 753 square miles (1,950 km ) is land and 16 square miles (41 km ) (2.1%)
145-468: A whole look for Capitol Square. On its construction it became one of many distinguished hotels in downtown Richmond that operated in the early part of the 20th century, including the Jefferson Hotel , Hotel Rueger , Murphy's Hotel , Hotel John Marshall and William Byrd Hotel . During the 1940s and 50s, it housed the studios of Richmond's top AM radio station , 1140 WRVA , and in 1948, it
174-540: Is represented by Republican Mark Peake (8th District) in the Virginia Senate; Republicans Eric Zehr (51st District) and Tim Griffin (53rd District) in the Virginia House of Delegates; and Republicans Bob Good (VA 5th District), Ben Cline (VA 6th District), and Morgan Griffith (VA 9th District) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Historically, Bedford County was an agricultural economy. While agriculture
203-624: Is still an important factor in the county's economy, Bedford County has significant residential development to serve Lynchburg , Roanoke , and Smith Mountain Lake . Tourism and retail are also becoming more significant, with some new industry near Forest and New London. Bedford has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1980 . Like much of the Solid South , it was a reliably Democratic county until 1948 , when Strom Thurmond 's candidacy reduced Harry S. Truman 's victory, and it
232-530: Is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 60,371 people, 23,838 households, and 18,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 80 people per square mile (31 people/km ). There were 26,841 housing units at an average density of 36 units per square mile (14 units/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 92.18% White , 6.24% Black or African American , 0.20% Native American , 0.43% Asian , 0.01% Pacific Islander , 0.20% from other races , and 0.74% from two or more races. 0.74% of
261-675: The Executive Mansion , is located in Richmond, Virginia , on Capitol Square and serves as the official residence of the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia . Designed by Alexander Parris , it is the oldest occupied governor's mansion in the United States . It has served as the home of Virginia governors and their families since 1813. This mansion is both a Virginia and a National Historic Landmark and has had
290-420: The 1950s, at the request of Governor Thomas B. Stanley , by noted landscape architect Charles Gillette . Anne Holton lived in the mansion twice: during the 1970s when her father, A. Linwood Holton Jr. , was governor, and returned to the home as Virginia's first lady when her husband, Tim Kaine , served as governor from 2006 to 2010. Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph , known as "Patsy",
319-584: The 1970s, the building was the site of the state's tourism marketing efforts including the historic "Virginia Is For Lovers" campaign. The hotel was renovated in 2016 by the Commonwealth of Virginia, which relocated the Attorney General's office into the refurbished hotel from the nearby Pocohantas Building. It had previously been under threat of demolition. In the current plan, the old Murphy Hotel will be razed for parking and office space. Some scenes for Steven Spielberg's movie Lincoln were filmed in
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#1732787458660348-541: The building being completed in 1813. Monroe was succeeded by George William Smith in 1811, but Smith was not the first governor to live in the mansion because he lost his life in the Richmond Theatre fire while he was saving others on December 26, 1811. His successor, James Barbour , was the first governor to live in the mansion. The term "mansion" was not used in the law authorizing it to be built, but it has been used ever since. The gardens were redesigned in
377-524: The building. Bedford County, Virginia Bedford County is a United States county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia . Its county seat is the town of Bedford , which was an independent city from 1968 until rejoining the county in 2013. Bedford County was created in 1753 from parts of Lunenburg County , and several changes in alignment were made until
406-570: The city if she was not taxed at a more equitable rate for her Lexington as compared to the Murphy Hotel and the Jefferson Hotel. Indeed, she would not build the Hotel Richmond until she felt she was taxed at a more fair rate. She told the papers that: "I feel that I am being discriminated against because I am a woman, but if I am not wanted here, I can easily go somewhere else." The Richmond News Leader reported April 29, 1903 that she
435-570: The demolition of the old hotel began. Miraculously, A picture of the Christ child survived "alone and uninjured" when the demolition of the St. Clare accidentally went awry. Further additions were made by John Kevan Peebles, architect of the wings of the State Capitol, and were done in preparation for the 1907 300th anniversary of the founding of Virginia; obviously, the two were meant to be part of
464-423: The hotel had a central place in the political history of the city. Early in its life it was festooned with a Westmoreland Davis for Governor banner, and sometime in the early 19th century, it became headquarters for the state's Democratic party, with offices in the hotel's historic Parlor A. From the ballroom in 1926, the first Harry Byrd took control of the state with his Byrd Machine . At his inauguration party on
493-465: The hotel's roof garden , he addressed the state on WRVA. In 1933, Gov. William M. Tuck set up an office in the building, and it was there Harry Byrd took over the seat of his father. It was, according to historian Jim Latimer , the room with the best view of the State Capitol and Executive Mansion . From the room, the final five Byrd governors (Battle, Stanley, J. Lindsay Almond , Albertis Harrison and Mills Godwin ) ran their successful campaigns. In
522-561: The mansion. It was featured on American Idol (season 5) when Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton , welcomed Richmond-native and Idol -finalist Elliott Yamin and his family to the mansion on national television. Restoration and remodeling work on the Mansion was shown on Bob Vila 's Home Again television show's tenth season, which aired in early 2000. The Mansion's most notable television appearance occurred on January 31, 2006, when recently inaugurated Governor Tim Kaine delivered
551-488: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 28.2% were of American, 15.6% English, 11.0% German and 9.6% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000 . There were 23,838 households, out of which 32.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.40% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.80% were non-families. 20.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.30% had someone living alone who
580-506: The present borders were established in 1786. The county was named in honor of John Russell , an English statesman and fourth Duke of Bedford . Bedford County is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of the 2020 census , Bedford's population was 79,462. The county population has more than doubled since 1980. The Piedmont area had long been inhabited by indigenous peoples . At
609-581: The time of European encounter, mostly Siouan -speaking tribes lived in this area. Bedford County was established by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753, from parts of Lunenburg County . Later in 1756, a portion of Albemarle County lying south of the James River was added. The county is named for John Russell , the fourth Duke of Bedford , who was a Secretary of State of Great Britain. In 1782, Campbell County
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#1732787458660638-462: Was "fuming and fretting" because of a high license fee that was to be placed on the hotel. Her issues with the city were not all about being a woman: she also stridently defended her use of " colored " men to do some of the excavation work. The May 9, 1903 demolition that preceded the building of the Hotel Richmond was newsworthy. A neighboring house, home of the Catholic bishop, was damaged just as
667-460: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.89. In the county, the population's age distribution was: 24.00% under the age of 18, 5.80% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 27.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.50 males. The median income for
696-598: Was a swing county for the next three decades. It voted for segregationist third-party candidate George Wallace for president in 1968 . Some of these unincorporated areas have mailing addresses in Bedford town and Lynchburg. Archived September 25, 2005, at the Wayback Machine 37°19′N 79°32′W / 37.31°N 79.53°W / 37.31; -79.53 Executive Mansion (Virginia) The Virginia Governor's Mansion , better known as
725-571: Was also the daughter and wife (to Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. ) of Virginia governors, but never lived in the Mansion. Under First Lady Roxane Gilmore , the mansion was renovated and expanded in an effort to restore the home to its historical appearance and to bring the Mansion into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act , while providing additional living space for the First Family. As of 2024 , Governor Glenn Youngkin occupied
754-425: Was built in 1904 and designed by Harrison Albright . The second phase followed in 1911, this one designed by John Kevan Peebles . The building sits across Grace Street from St. Paul's Church , and next to St. Peter's Church . Her energy got her into trouble as she bucked the city establishment. The Times-Dispatch on April 26, 1903, said that during her attempt to build the Hotel Richmond, she threatened to leave
783-601: Was formed from eastern Bedford County and the county seat was moved from New London to Liberty (now Bedford). Also in 1786, the portion of Bedford County south of the Staunton (Roanoke) River was taken with part of Henry County to form Franklin County . The town of Bedford became an independent city in 1968, and remained the county seat. On September 14, 2011, the Bedford City Council voted to transition into
812-452: Was joined by co-owned FM 94.5 WRVB (now WRVQ ). The hotel's mezzanine housed WRVA , Richmond's pioneering AM 50,000 watt radio station. From 1939 until its relocation, WRVA had the strongest broadcasting power of any station from Washington, D.C. to Atlanta . The station aired the popular variety show Sunshine Sue and Her Rangers as well as Capitol Squirrel . As the largest hotel immediately adjacent to Richmond's Capitol Square,
841-402: Was no residence for the governor, but Thomas Jefferson rented one. The state was so poor that it could not pay the rent in time and blamed Jefferson for the problem. The state finally paid its rent and built a residence for the governor on the site of the present building. The law that provided for the construction of the current building was signed on February 13, 1811, by James Monroe , with
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