View source for Shockoe Bottom

{{dablink|This article refers to the commercial district directly below Church Hill near the Main Street Station. For the cobblestone-lined commercial district nearby, see [[Shockoe Slip]]}}

{{Infobox NRHP
| name                           = Shockoe Valley and Tobacco Row Historic District
| nrhp_type                      = hd
| nocat                          = yes
| designated_other1              = Virginia Landmarks Register
| designated_other1_date         = July 21, 1981; August 23, 2007<ref name=register>{{cite web|title=Virginia Landmarks Register|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm|publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources|accessdate=19 March 2013}}</ref>
| designated_other1_number       = 127-0344
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
| image                          = 17th Street, Richmond, Virginia.JPG
| caption                        = View north on 17th Street
| location                       = Roughly bounded by Dock, 15th, Clay, Franklin, and Pear Streets, [[Richmond, Virginia]]
| coordinates                    = {{coord|37|31|56|N|77|25|29|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin                       = Virginia#USA
| architect                      =
| architecture                   = Mid 19th Century Revival, Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian
| added                          = February 24, 1983
| area                           = {{convert|129|acre}}
| refnum                         = 83003308 <ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2009a}}</ref>
}}

'''Shockoe Bottom''' (also known historically as Shockoe Valley) is an area in [[Richmond, Virginia]], just east of downtown, along the James River. Located between [[Shockoe Hill]] and [[Church Hill, Richmond, Virginia|Church Hill]], Shockoe Bottom contains much of the land included in Colonel [[William Mayo (civil engineer)|William Mayo]]'s 1737 plan of Richmond, making it one of the city's oldest neighborhoods.

==History==
Shockoe was named in the 1730 [[Tobacco Inspection Act]] as the site of a tobacco inspection warehouse on land owned by [[William Byrd II]].  The area's development in the late 18th century was aided by move of the state capital to Richmond and the construction of Mayo's bridge in 1788 across the [[James River]] (ultimately succeeded by the modern [[Mayo Bridge|14th Street Bridge]]), as well as the siting of key tobacco industry structures, such as the public warehouse, tobacco scales, and the Federal [[Custom house|Customs House]] in or near the district.<ref name="1983 Nomination" /> Throughout the 19th Century, Shockoe Bottom was the center of Richmond's commerce with ships pulling into port from the James River. Goods coming off these ships were warehoused and traded in Shockoe Valley.

Between the late 17th century and the end of the [[American Civil War]] in 1865, the area played a major role in the history of [[slavery in the United States]],<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bailey|first=Anne C.|date=2020-02-12|title=They Sold Human Beings Here|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/12/magazine/1619-project-slave-auction-sites.html|access-date=2020-10-10|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> serving as the second largest slave trading center in the country, second to [[New Orleans]]. Profits from the trade in human beings fueled the creation of wealth for Southern whites and drove the economy in Richmond, leading 15th Street to be known as Wall Street in the antebellum period, with the surrounding blocks home to more than 69 slave dealers and auction houses.<ref>{{cite book |last=Trammel |first=Jack |year= 2012 |title=The Richmond Slave Trade: The Economic Backbone of the Old Dominion |publisher= The History Press |isbn= 9781609494131}}</ref> In 2006, archaeological excavations were begun on the former site of [[Lumpkin's jail]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Laird|first=Matthew|title=Preliminary Archaeological Investigation of the Lumpkin's Jail Site|url=http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/slavery/documents/LumpkinsJailfinalreport.pdf|publisher=VCU Library|accessdate=6 March 2014}}</ref> Nearby, located at 15th and E Broad St., is the [[African_Burial_Ground,_Richmond,_Virginia|African Burial Ground]],<ref>Smith, Ryan K. "African Burial Ground". Richmond Cemeteries</ref><ref>Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, "Richmond African Burial Ground"</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-28 |title=Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground |url=https://www.richmondcemeteries.org/potters-field/ |access-date=2022-04-01 |website=Richmond Cemeteries |language=en}}</ref> long used as a commercial parking lot, most recently by [[Virginia Commonwealth University]], a state institution. It was reclaimed in 2011 after a decade-long community organizing campaign, and today it is a memorial park, though part of the burial ground lies beneath Interstate Highway 95. 

On the eve of the [[fall of Richmond]] to the Union Army in April 1865, evacuating Confederate forces were ordered to set fire to the city's tobacco warehouses. The fires spread, and completely destroyed Shockoe Slip and several other districts. The district was quickly rebuilt in the late 1860s, flourishing further in the 1870s, and forming much of its present historic building stock.<ref name="1983 Nomination" /> Architecturally, many of the buildings were constructed during the rebuilding following the Evacuation Fire of 1865, especially in a commercial variant of the [[Italianate architecture|Italianate style]], including a 1909 fountain, dedicated to "one who loved animals."<ref>{{cite web|title=Shockoe Slip|url=http://www.historicrichmond.com/shockoeslip.html|publisher=Historic Richmond Foundation}}</ref> The buildings in the district, which historically housed a variety of offices, wholesale and retail establishments, are now primarily restaurants, shops, offices, and apartments.<ref name="1983 Nomination">{{cite web|title=Shockoe Slip Historic District National Register Nomination – Boundary Increase|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Richmond/127-0219_Shockoe_Slip_HD_1983_Increase.pdf|publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources|accessdate=8 June 2011}}</ref> It warehoused many of the city's goods, mostly tobacco. The district began declining in the 1920s, as other areas of the city rose in prominence with the advent of the automobile. Numerous structures would be demolished and cleared, including (in the 1950s), the [[Tobacco Exchange]], which had been at the heart of the district.<ref name="1983 Nomination" /> Up until they moved from [[Tobacco Row]] in the 1980s, the area was home to many of the country's largest tobacco companies.

== Historic Landmarks ==
Shockoe Bottom is home to several historic sites and buildings:

* African Burial Ground

* [[Edgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond)|Edgar Allan Poe Museum]]
* Devil's Half Acre<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jumaa |first=Yasmine |date=July 28, 2020 |title=Officials Launch Plans to Build Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park |url=https://vpm.org/news/articles/15268/officials-launch-plans-to-build-shockoe-bottom-memorial-park |access-date=2022-04-01 |website=VPM NPR News |language=en}}</ref>
* Lumkin's Jail
* [[Mason's Hall (Richmond, Virginia)|Mason's Hall]], which was built between 1785 and 1787
* .Richmond Slave Trail

==Redevelopment==
After centuries of periodic flooding by the James River, development was greatly stimulated by the completion of Richmond's James River Flood Wall and the Canal Walk in 1995. The next flooding disaster came not from the river, but from [[Hurricane Gaston]], which brought extensive local tributary flooding along the basin of Shockoe Creek and did extensive damage to the area in 2004, with businesses being shut down and many buildings condemned.

A major boom in residential growth was created in the mid-1990s when old warehouses in Tobacco Row were converted into apartments. Since then, more vacant buildings have been replaced with residential dwellings and new ones have been built.

The [[National Trust for Historic Preservation]] named Shockoe Bottom one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2014 and a National Treasure shortly thereafter because of "Revitalize RVA," the controversial plan to construct a minor league baseball stadium, a national museum of slavery, a Hyatt hotel, a Kroger grocery store, and residential and commercial office space at the site.

In 2016 The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Dr. Max Page of the University of Massachusetts Center for Design Engagement, the [[Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project]] and the [[Richmond Slave Trail Commission]] began collaboration on an updated concept for the slave memorial.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Russell |first=Malik |date=June 3, 2016 |title=Groups unite for slavery memorial in Shockoe Bottom |url=http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2016/jun/03/groups-unite-slavery-memorial-shockoe-bottom/ |access-date=2022-04-01 |website=Richmond Free Press}}</ref>

In 2018, Shockoe Bottom was one of 16 projects awarded mines from the [[African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://savingplaces.org/stories/2018-action-fund-grant-recipients#.YglxFd_MKUk|title=National Trust Awards $1 Million in Grants to Help Preserve African American History|publisher=National Trust for Historic Preservation|date=July 6, 2018|access-date=February 13, 2022}}</ref>

As of 2020, there are ongoing efforts to construct a museum of slavery in the Shockoe Bottom that commemorates the Lumpkin's Slave Jail / Devil's Half-Acre site.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lumpkin's Slave Jail Site / Devil's Half Acre Project|url=https://www.lumpkinsjail.org/|access-date=2021-10-13|website=Lumpkin’s Slave Jail Site / Devil’s Half Acre Project|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Spiers |first=Jonathan |date=2020-12-24 |title=City to purchase Loving land for Shockoe slavery commemorative site |url=https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/12/24/city-to-purchase-loving-land-for-shockoe-slavery-commemorative-site/ |access-date=2022-04-01 |website=Richmond BizSense |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://riverdistrictnews.com/ River District News]

{{Richmond, Virginia neighborhoods}}
{{geographic location
|Centre = Shockoe Bottom
|North = Upper Shockoe Valley
|Northeast = [[Union Hill, Richmond, Virginia|Union Hill]]
|East = [[Church Hill, Richmond, Virginia|Church Hill]]
|Southeast = [[Rockett's Landing]]
|South = 
[[Manchester, Richmond, Virginia|Manchester]]<br>[[Mayo Bridge]] over the [[James River]]
|Southwest =
|West = [[Virginia State Capitol|Capitol Hill]] <br> [[Shockoe Slip]]
|Northwest = [[Court End]]
}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia}}

[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia]]
[[Category:Neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia]]
[[Category:Tobacco in the United States]]