Qualla: Libby Hill, Richmond https://qualla.com/libby-hill-richmond en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:07 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/8/v/libby-hill-richmond-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Libby Hill, Richmond https://qualla.com/libby-hill-richmond Libby Hill, Richmond: Introduction https://qualla.com/libby-hill-richmond/ Photo credit RVA all day, CC BY-SA 4.0. The story goes that William Byrd II stood on this hill in 1737, looked west down the James River as it curled away beneath him, and decided the prospect resembled the view from Richmond Hill in London - the bend in the Thames, the wooded slopes falling toward the water. He named his new town accordingly. Whether the story is exactly true is one of those questions Richmond historians have argued for two centuries, but the view itself is unarguable. Stand at the western edge of Libby Hill Park, look out past the Lucky Strike building toward downtown, and you can still see what Byrd saw - or what he claimed to see. Locals call it 'The View That Named Richmond,' and a plaque in the park makes the case. The neighborhood that grew up here, on the southeastern spur of Church Hill, is small and entirely contained within the St. John's Church Historic District. It is one of the city's quietest historic precincts.

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Image: RVA all day | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/8/v/libby-hill-richmond-wp/dq8v-libby-hill-richmond-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Libby Hill, Richmond: The Old Houses https://qualla.com/libby-hill-richmond/ Photo credit RVA all day, CC BY-SA 4.0. Homes have stood on Libby Hill since at least 1796. The prominent early residents included Governor George W. Smith - who died in the 1811 Richmond theater fire - and Colonel George Mayo Carrington. Neither of their houses survives. The oldest surviving building is the Gentry-Str...

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Image: RVA all day | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/8/v/libby-hill-richmond-wp/dq8v-libby-hill-richmond-the-old-houses.mp3 0:06 2 full Libby Hill, Richmond: The Monument https://qualla.com/libby-hill-richmond/ Photo credit RVA all day, CC BY-SA 4.0. Because Libby Hill commanded the view westward toward the river and the city, and because it sat above the ground where the Confederate Navy Yard had operated during the war, Richmond's monument-builders saw it as a place to remember the Confederacy. A memorial to Robert E. Lee w...

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Image: RVA all day | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/8/v/libby-hill-richmond-wp/dq8v-libby-hill-richmond-the-monument.mp3 0:06 3 full Libby Hill, Richmond: What Came Down, What Stayed https://qualla.com/libby-hill-richmond/ Photo credit RVA all day, CC BY-SA 4.0. The monument came down on July 8, 2020, after a summer of public demand following the murder of George Floyd. The city removed it. What remains in Libby Hill Park is a small landscape of fountains, paths, a park house, the plaque describing the view that named Richmond - and othe...

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Image: RVA all day | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/8/v/libby-hill-richmond-wp/dq8v-libby-hill-richmond-what-came-down-what-stayed.mp3 0:06 4 full Libby Hill, Richmond: The Hill as Stage https://qualla.com/libby-hill-richmond/ Photo credit RVA all day, CC BY-SA 4.0. In September 2015 Richmond hosted the UCI Road World Championships, the most prestigious annual event in road cycling. The course wound through the city, and one of its signature features was the steep, winding cobblestone path that climbs through Libby Hill Park. Watch footage o...

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]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/8/v/libby-hill-richmond-wp/dq8v-libby-hill-richmond-the-hill-as-stage.mp3 0:06 5 full