Rosedale: Hidden Gem

As with every other neighborhood in Richmond’s North Side, from Overbrook Road to Upham Brook, the seed of Rosedale was planted by nineteenth-century visionary industrialist Lewis Ginter. It all started with a brick farmhouse and the adjacent 127 acres, which would, many years later, be subdivided into small plats, gridded like the nearby communities of Bellevue and Ginter Park.

By Charles McGuigan 07.2014

The Bellevue Apartments Nee The Bellevue Theatre

Contractors worked tirelessly and meticulously to preserve and to repurpose the old movie theatre—longtime home to Samis Grotto—on MacArthur Avenue in Bellevue, and on October 1st the job will finally be completed down to the finest detail. 

By Charles McGuigan 09.2024

Virginia Supportive Housing Is Now SupportWorks Housing

Virginia Supportive Housing has unveiled a new name and logo as part of an extensive rebranding initiative.

Building on 35 years of experience working to end homelessness in Virginia, the nonprofit’s name change to SupportWorks Housing—coupled with a clear, compelling new logo and graphic platform—reflects a continued commitment to combining professional property development and management with unmatched, integrated support services to deliver measurable results for individuals and communities.

10.2024

Hugging the Shore From Back Bay To Bodie Island And Back

The ocean puts me at ease no matter how restless my mind becomes. Its tireless motion, its union with the moon in the tides, and the timeless lap of water and spit of surf, the spilling up of nearly everything in the world from shells and mermaid’s purses to sea rattles and the ancient ribs of tall ships. (I have found coconuts washed ashore as far north as Delaware; the bumper of a VW down by Hatteras; once, an orange duffelbag filled with lingerie at Sandbridge.)

By Charles McGuigan 08.2006

Robbie Kocher: Of Fathers and Their Sons

It’s odd to walk along the commercial strips in Bellevue now. Whether you’re strolling down MacArthur Avenue or making your way along Bellevue Avenue, there’s something missing.  That familiar face, the recognizable gait. An ever-ready smile. A quick, and sometimes sardonic, quip. You would see him in the mornings at Stir Crazy, in the late afternoons and early evenings at Dot’s Back Inn or Northside Grille, and almost any other time of day or night at Once Upon a Vine. He seemed to be everywhere, every week day. A presence we had all come to love. And now he is gone. Left us much too soon. He was just 48 years old.

By Charles McGuigan 08.2024

Virginia Supportive Housing: There But for the Grace of God

If you happen to be reading this story tonight, lounging on your couch, or lying down in your bed, with plenty of light illuminating the words, and the cool, artificial breeze of an air- conditioner keeping the demons of heat and humidity at bay, consider this: Right now there are more than 100 people actually living on the streets in our fair city, though there are far more who are homeless, some 600, which is nothing by comparison to the tens of thousands of homeless folks in cities like New York and Los Angeles. People without four walls and a roof, indoor plumbing, a stove and a refrigerator, the luxury of climate control, music, TV, cable, Wifi. Not even a single bed.

By Charles McGuigan 06.2018

A View from the Top No Longer Available

For roughly five decades Richmonders had enjoyed free and open access to the City Hall Observation Deck, one of our beautiful city’s great public amenities and a testament to the simple civic appeal that a local government can create with minimal investment.

By Daniel Payne 07.2024

Brave Bird

Judy Jamison was describing her first book to all ages of people at the Fan Arts Stroll last month, and I found her to be a natural storyteller. I guessed correctly that she’d been a primary school teacher.

By Kathy Butler Springston 06.2024

Bellevue Theatre Renovation Nears Completion

There are alternatives to the Lego School of Design rectangles that are rapidly destroying the singular skyline of Richmond with an aesthetic that has all the appeal of unending corn rows of khrushchevkas (Consider what’s happening in Scott’s Addition).

By Charles McGuigan 06.2024

Laura Ann Singh: The Blossoming of a Wildwood Flower

Laura Ann Singh sits on the couch in her sun-washed living room on a day that bursts suddenly with the full promise of spring after many false starts. Coats are long-last shed, and the temperature rises slow and steady as sap. A time of expectation and hope, two weeks before Easter.

By Charles McGuigan 04.2018

Nick Sharp: A Human Singularity

Nicholas Andrew Sharp passed away last month, leaving behind fourteen children, twenty-five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and Linda, his loving wife of fifty-five years. He also left behind the rest of us, who either knew him personally, or knew of his existence through acts of humanity that echoed from him through those he touched. 

By Charles McGuigan 05.2024

Bellevue Porchella Held 4/20/24

Bellevue Porchella, a Bellevue Civic Association event, was bigger and better than ever. Originally conceived by Brooke Ullman, the first Porchella was held in the fall of 2020 when the world was still reeling from the Covid pandemic. 

By Charles McGuigan 05.2024

Once Upon A Vine and Stir Crazy Celebrating 20 Years on MacArthur

Twenty years ago this month, two things happened on MacArthur Avenue that changed that business strip in the heart of Bellevue forever.

Bob Kocher, who had operated Price’s Market in the Fan for many years, had toyed around with the idea of opening a beer and wine shop for some time. He considered different areas of the city, but ultimately chose Bellevue.

By Charles McGuigan 05.2024

All’s Well That Ends Well

Elizabeth Dudley Cann Kambourian, an amateur historian, who, through her diligent research, discovered the site of a Black cemetery in Shockoe Bottom, has lived in Richmond her entire life, all but two of those years in Bellevue, on the city’s Northside. 

By Charles McGuigan 02.2024

Bat Boxes In Bryan Park

Bats scouting for warm nighttime shelters and dark daytime hideaways should detect with their sharp echolocation the three bat boxes Scout Sam Whipple recently placed in Joseph Bryan Park.

A member of Scout Troop 770, Sam, 15, is the son of Keith and Cabel Whipple of Henrico County and a freshman at Douglas Freeman High School.

By Kathy Butler Springston 11.2023

Brick House Diner: Food for Every Palate

Brick House Diner, one of Northside’s newest eateries, perfectly filled the void left by Kitchen 64 on Arthur Ashe Boulevard, replacing it with a restaurant specializing in the culinary comfort foods of a classic diner. It’s a clean, sparse space with a delightful front-of-the house staff, and a menu that will appeal to any discerning palate.

By Charles McGuigan 10.2023

PopLife: To Your Good Health

Dr. A. J. Soucy operated a successful OBGYN practice for many years in upstate New York, but sensed something was missing from the allopathic approach she was trained in. One of the benefits of working in the OBGYN field is that the doctor gets to know her patients very well over the course of a lifetime.  

By Charles McGuigan 09.2023

Primary Resident Requirements and Short Term Rentals

A lot of Richmonders were surprised that the Planning Commission is considering changes to the Primary Resident Requirements (PRRs) on Short Term Rentals (STRs). After all, if it ain’t broken why fix it. Northside civic associations oppose changes to the zoning ordinance. 

By Charles McGuigan 09.2023

Ellie’s Hot Dogs and Ice Cream: Savory and Sweet on the Northside

It’s hot, but there’s shade, and fully a dozen and half people, several families, kids and adults alike, congregate around the tables under a canopy that extends off the order window of one of Northside’s newest eateries. They’re hunkered down over treats, savory and sweet.  Easy to understand why Ellie’s Hot Dogs and Ice Cream has become so popular so quickly. They offer what people want—perfect dogs and ice cream, to boot.

By Charles McGuigan 08.2023

Copperheads Are Richmond Natives

While pulling weeds in Richmond's Byrd Park last August, Karl Huber felt a sharp pain in his right index finger.

"It felt like a pin went straight through my finger," said Huber, 70, who lives in the Fan District.

Huber, a longtime park volunteer, had been bitten by a copperhead. The venomous snake had been hiding in a bunch  of weeds Huber had grabbed. The snake pierced Huber's heavy leather glove with one fang.

By Rex Springston 07.2023

Latest on the Fate of Thirteen Acres

Bob Balster, who has worked tirelessly in an effort to preserve the Thirteen Acres building, one of Northside’s oldest structures, recently released two reports: one from Historic Richmond; and another, which is essentially a response to the Historic Richmond recommendations, comes from the Hermitage Road Historic District Association, of which Bob is president. 

By Charles McGuigan 04.2023

March Briefs

-John Marshall Justices Reign Supreme

-John Shinholser Retires As President of McShin Foundation

-Hazardous Intersection of Laburnum and Hermitage

-Ramps RVA Building Independence and Mobility

-Renaming Ginter Park Elementary School

The Old Bellevue Theatre Is About To Get A New Life

The long-neglected Samis Grotto, sandwiched between Dot’s Back Inn and Zorba’s Pizza Express in the commercial heart of Bellevue, is about to get a long-overdue renovation thanks to a joint effort by Alex Griffith and Ben Adamson who purchased the property for $300,000 back in mid-January.

By Charles McGuigan 03.2023

Latest on the Fate Of Thirteen Acres

Bob Balster, who has worked tirelessly in an effort to preserve the Thirteen Acres building, one of Northside’s oldest structures, recently released two reports: one from Historic Richmond; and another, which is essentially a response to the Historic Richmond recommendations, comes from the Hermitage Road Historic District Association, of which Bob is president.

By Charles McGuigan 03.2023

The Mill on MacArthur to Close; New Restaurant Opening There Soon

On February 26 The Mill on MacArthur served up its last meal. But in fairly short order another restaurant, which will maintain the quality of The Mill and its commitment to the community, will open in its place. The new owners, seasoned restaurateurs, are Northsiders. What’s more, most of the staff from The Mill will be working at the new restaurant.

By Charles McGuigan 03.2023

January and February Briefs 2023

-Concert to Benefit Richmond Waldorf

-February Art Exhibits at the Main Public Library

-Lessons of the Hour: Frederick Douglass at VMFA

Restoring Thirteen Acres For Richmond Public Schools

We are dressed for the weather, bundled up, maybe twenty of us, waiting on the weathered porch for the key to turn. All of us want to have a look inside this historic building the city of Richmond has allowed to fall into a state of decay for well over a decade.

By Charles McGuigan 01.2023

RVA Naturals: Where Toys Will Be Toys

There’s a place you can do your holiday shopping for the kids on your list and actually bring a bit of the magic back into Christmas for them. What’s more you’ll be doing Mother Earth a big favor. No plastics here, no black mirrors made of rare earth metals the mining of which wreaks havoc on the environment, no synthetic fabrics, no computer screens.

By Charles McGuigan 12.2022

 Christmas on MacArthur Returned December 10

After a two-year hiatus, due to the pandemic, Christmas on MacArthur returned from 10 am till 2 pm on Saturday, December 10. As always this annual Northside holiday celebration benefited Toys-for-Tots. This year they collected more than one thousand toys that the U.S, Marines picked up the day of the event.

Last Confederate Comes Down

One hundred and thirty years ago, at the direction of Major Lewis Ginter, a nine and a half foot bronze statue of Confederate General A.P. Hill was erected atop a twenty-four and a half foot pedestal of finished granite blocks in the dead center of the intersection of Hermitage Road and Laburnum Avenue.

By Charles McGuigan 12.2022

Bellevue Street Repaving: Get Ready for Part Two

Last month a team of contractors tackled the enormous job of repaving the streets of Bellevue which were as pocked with potholes as the cratered Moon—some of them small and inconsequential, others large enough to qualify as sinkholes that could chomp out your car’s undercarriage or snap an axle like a twig.

By Charles McGuigan 11.2022

Christmas Magic on MacArthur Avenue

Kaitlyn Overman, age 4, dropped seven gifts into the Sgt. Santa box at Dot’s Back Inn, which made her eligible to win one of two bikes purchased by Bob Kocher, owner of Once Upon A Vine, and one of the organizers of the first annual Christmas on MacArthur. As fate would have it, Kaitlyn won one of the bikes a week later on Christmas Eve at the time of the drawing.

By Charles McGuigan 01.2006

 A.P. Hill Coming Down

In the not-too-distant future, the last statue still standing in Richmond of a man who betrayed his country and fought to uphold the institution of slavery will finally come down and join many of his bronzen co-Confederates at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Jackson Ward.

By Charles McGuigan 11.2022

A New Use For Thirteen Acres

For more than twenty years now the building that sits behind Holton Elementary School has been in a state of ever-rapid decline. Eight years after the elementary school opened, the building, commonly called Thirteen Acres, was put on a back burner, and time and the elements have taken their toll.

By Charles McGuigan 11.2022

November 2022 Briefs

-Christmas on MacArthur Returns December 10 from 10am-2pm

-Northside Art Sale Coming December 3

-Concert Ballet of Virginia’s Nutcracker 46th Season

-Jo Kennedy’s Latest Chapbook

October 2022 Briefs

-Simplicity Parenting and Open House at RWS

-Northside Art Show at LGRA Benefits FeedMore

-Antique Village Celebrates 51 Years

Virginia Repertory Theatre Purchase Scottish Rite Temple for $3.5 Million

Virginia Repertory Theatre recently purchased the Scottish Rite Temple on Hermitage Road for $3.5 million. It will become the new home for the Rep’s Children’s Theatre known as the Virginia Rep Center for Arts and Education, and will house children’s theatre productions, educational touring programs, camps, classes, and workshops.

A Memory Box Honoring Rescue Squad Volunteers and the Lakeside Community

Nico Cathcart brings her unique talent to the Lakeside Volunteer Rescue Squad with a massive mural that contains scores of individual elements nestled among hundreds of flowers, all of which celebrate the selfless volunteers of the squad, as well as the surrounding neighborhood of Lakeside.

By Charles McGuigan 09.2022

Sylvia Phillips Regelson

1926-2022

Late last month, Richmond lost one of her greatest treasures with the passing of Sylvia Regelson. She shared her wealth of knowledge freely, and owned the most impressive shops I have ever entered—Ouroborous at the Antique Village in Hanover County.

Guide2Resilience With Meghan Varner

Meghan Varner brings a wealth of science and personal experience to a virtual coaching business she started up last November. It’s called, quite simply, Guide2Resilience.

“I started it out of a passion to still be able to help people in spite of the pandemic,” says Meghan. 

By Charles McGuigan 09.2022

August 2022 Briefs

-31st Annual 43rd Street Festival of the Arts

-The Adams Family’s New Home

Small Battles for the Planet: Choosing Biodiversity Over Conformity

A couple years ago, I spoke with Catherine Farmer, who has been instrumental in the removal of invasive species and the reintroduction of native plants on Belle Isle. During the interview she handed me a book titled “Bringing Nature Home” which was written more than decade ago by Douglas Tallamy. “He’s the Rachel Carson for our generation,” Catherine said “We have so many acres of grasslands and the habitat is so fragmented now that we don’t have enough masses of uninterrupted habitat for species to exist, and we’re having a massive extinction.”

By Charles McGuigan 08.2022

Rita Dove: Rara Avis 

When I spoke with Rita Dove, she was hurtling through Iowa, Des Moines-bound, her husband, Fred Viebahn, at the wheel, on road trip across America that started in Charlottesville and would end outside Phoenix where the couple would visit their daughter and granddaughter.   Later this month, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, who served as Poet Laureate for the United States and for the Commonwealth of Virginia, will be reading from her latest book, “Playlist for the Apocalypse”, at the Library of Virginia.

By Charles McGuigan 07.2022

Saving the Environment One Small Step at a Time

Small things can make a big difference. And a combination of these tiny actions can actually have a dramatic environmental impact, improving, among other things, water quality and increased biodiversity.

By Charles McGuigan 06.2022

Cool Lane Commons Coming Soon

Earlier this month, Virginia Supportive Housing (VSH) hosted a ceremonial ground-breaking on Cool Lane Commons—a $23 million affordable housing project that encompasses 86 individual units. The Commons will be housed in a renovated and expanded vacant assisted living facility that sits on the border of Henrico County and the City of Richmond. It will offer units of more than 500 square feet to homeless and low-income people in the metro area.

By Charles McGuigan 06.2022

Lakeside Farmers’ Market Celebrates 15th Anniversary 

Hundreds of people, over the course of a couple of hours, visited Lakeside Farmers’ Market on its 15th anniversary, which was celebrated in mid-May. Ron Moody & The Centaurs—a Lakeside icon since the 1960s—provided the musical entertainment. Among those present were Fairfield District Supervisor Frank Thornton (currently serving his seventh term) and his wife, Betty, who, in a way, was the progenitor of the Lakeside Farmers’ Market.

By Charles McGuigan 06.2022

Richmond Waldorf School Celebrating 25 Years

Children, wearing yellow raincoats and boots, roam across the lawn in front of Richmond Waldorf School—a Northside icon. Though there’s just a drizzle, the kid’s are prepared for a full on downpour. Parents greet each other with open arms, and many of the children wear crowns crafted of flowers. They’re all here to celebrate school’s 25th anniversary.

By Brigette Kelly 06.2022

May Briefs 2022

-NotJ Wins 1st Place And 3rd Place VPA Awards

-Hermitage Richmond’s 2nd Annual Blessing of the Pets

-Legacy Cycling Team Film Premiere at the Byrd

April Briefs 2022

-May Faire at Richmond Waldorf on Their 25th Anniversary

-Spring Events at Hermitage Richmond

-Second Annual Caribbean American Heritage Festival

-Ginter Park Garden Club 7th Annual Spring Market

-Kristen Green at Library of Virginia

-The Art of Housing at the VMFA

Journey of a Veteran Unveiled at McGuire

Artist Ed Trask, known for his signature murals that adorn exterior walls throughout the city, most recently completed a work with fellow artist Jason Ford that honors American veterans. Unveiled last month at Hunter Holmes McGuire Hospital, this stunning mural shines a searing light on the tribulations of veterans. 

By Brigette Kelly 03.2022

January/ February Briefs 2022

-RVA Environmental Film Festival Coming Soon

-Richmond SPCA 20th Annual Dog Jog and 5k Returns

-Second Street Gallery Awarded Two-Year $80,000 Grant

-Richmond 911 Switches to Internet-Based System

-Visual Arts Center Updates COVID-19 Policies

Riverine: Help Preserve Virginia’s Natural Resources

The Riverine Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist Program have opened applications for their 2022 training class for prospective volunteers.  Adults who are interested in conserving and managing Virginia’s natural resources can learn about training and volunteer service by visiting their website or emailing getmoreriverineinfo@riverinemn.org 

Haunts of Richmond Announces New Tours for Winter Season

Haunts of Richmond, the longest-running ghost tour company in Richmond is proud to announce new tours for the 2021-2022 winter season. 

Founded in 2004, Haunts of Richmond offers walking tours in Shockoe Bottom, Church Hill, Capitol Hill and along Franklin Street, along with a variety of special events, including haunted dinners and pub crawls.

11.2021

Bellevue Halloween Party

“We are all about giving back to the community,” says Jerry DeVoss, BCA president. The organization recently donated $1500 for the Northside Mural project, and funded a small sitting park, created by Victor Ayala, at the intersection of Bellevue and Fauquier Avenues.

11.2021

Northside Dental Co: Changing Perceptions

Interior spaces, when appointed with care and artistic precision, can make a visit memorable and enjoyable. Less is often more, and muted, neutral colors, coupled with inconspicuous lighting, put the spirit at ease.

By Charles McGuigan 11.2021

Northside Mural Kickoff: Ed Trask’s First Brushstroke

It was eerily similar to a morning twenty years ago to the day—clear blue sky, warming sun, a whisper of breeze. But where two towers were toppled and thousands murdered that morning two decades ago, this day saw a remembrance of those skyscrapers as an image on a brick wall, and the beginning of a project that would narrate the story of the diverse neighborhoods that make up Richmond’s Northside.

By Charles McGuigan 10.2021

A.P. Hill: Last Confederate Standing

After death most of us are buried just one time. That wasn’t the case though for Confederate General Ambrose Powell Hill. To date he’s been buried on three separate occasions. And fairly soon he’ll be re-interred once again.

By Charles McGuigan 10.2021

Richmond Folk Festival Returns October 8-10

The Richmond Folk Festival celebrates its 17th anniversary this October, inviting fans to downtown Richmond’s riverfront to celebrate the roots, richness, and variety of American culture through music, dance, traditional crafts, storytelling, and food.

09.2021

Vegan Voices

Northsider Joanne Kong, a longtime voice of the vegan movement, just edited a new work scheduled for release in early October.

 Titled “Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers” this is a comprehensive collection of compelling testimonials of how our food choices are deeply connected to the pressing challenges and issues of our time. 

By Joanne Kong, PhD 09.2021

Live Music Returns to Shady Grove 

Live music returns to Shady Grove Coffeehouse for its twentieth season. On October 16 they welcome back Canadian fiddle April Verch, and on November 6, David Mallet and George Turman. In order to safeguard the health of audience and performers, the October and November concerts will be held outdoors, and masks will be required to enter the church building. 

09.2021

Ed Trask’s Northside Narrative Mural Coming to Bellevue Before Thanksgiving 

Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, as they travel north or south on Brook Road, will soon lay eyes on a panoramic visual narrative describing the diverse and progressive communities that make up Richmond’s Northside.

By Charles McGuigan 09.2021

Sit-Down Dining Returns at Stir Crazy and The Mill

Two of Northside’s favorite spots are again open for sit-down dining—Stir Crazy Café and The Mill on MacArthur, both located in the heart of Bellevue.

The other restaurants along MacArthur—Dot’s Back Inn, Demi’s Mediterranean Kitchen, Zorba’s Pizza Express, and Mi Jalisco—have been open for seated dining for some time now.

By Charles McGuigan 08.2021

Richmond Art Garage: Where You Fill Up on Art

Richmond Art Garage on Brookland Park Boulevard isn’t like most other art galleries in town. For one thing the artwork comes primarily from emerging artists. What’s more the prices are extremely reasonable. 

By Charles McGuigan 07.2021

Juneteenth at Six Points: Celebrating Youth and Freedom

On Juneteenth at Six Points in Highland Park, the streets were closed off as hundreds gathered to celebrate what is often called Second Independence Day.   Whether you call it Juneteenth or Freedom Day or Jubilee Day or Cel-Liberation Day or Emancipation Day, this day commemorates that singular event that occurred on Galveston Island, Texas more than a century and a half ago.

By Charles McGuigan 07.2021

Taste of Brookland Park Boulevard on May Day

No better way to celebrate May Day than a Taste of Brookland Park Boulevard. From noon till five on May 1, hundreds strolled up and down Brookland Park Boulevard, sampling food, drinks and ice cream, chatting, listening to music, wearing face masks, enjoying this mid-way mark between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice.

05.2021

A Quarry Story

Quarries sometimes hold secrets, so you’ve got to dig deep. Particularly if those quarries were once filled with water. That’s certainly the case with the three quarries that once operated on the land that became Joseph Bryan Park.

By Fayeruz Regan 04.2021

Parklets on MacArthur Avenue

Parklets create a more pedestrian- and bike-friendly environment. They’re sort of like communal front porches that invite neighbors to congregate in a public space. What’s more, parklets allow local restaurants to increase outdoor dining opportunities. They’ve been a great success in progressive cities from Savannah to San Francisco, and they add a European flair to the streetscape.

By Charles McGuigan 04.2021

Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar: Here’s to Your Health

Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar on Brookland Park Boulevard, which opened two months before the pandemic struck, never missed a beat, and what’s more just established its second location in downtown Richmond at The Valentine.

By Charles McGuigan 04.2021

Brookland Park Market: A Neighborhood Gem

After this unthinkable year of extreme take-out dining, I was ready to try something new, and I remembered the many enthusiastic recommendations from several friends about Brookland Park, starting last fall.

By Anne Jones 04.2021

Thirteen Acres: A New Use

The fate of one of the oldest structures in the Hermitage Road Historic District (HRHD) is in the balance. It stands alone behind Linwood Holton Elementary School, ringed in six-foot high hurricane fencing like a post-insurrectionist US Capitol.

By Charles McGuigan 04.2021

The Mill at Ten: Always Evolving

Last March, when the pandemic began shutting down the economy, local restaurant owners had to restructure the way they do business. On March 18, Amy Foxworthy, one of the owners and founders of one of Northside’s most popular eateries, locked the door at The Mill on MacArthur.

By Charles McGuigan 04.2021

One Three Guitar: Sales, Repairs, Lessons

Late one afternoon, as sunlight drained out of the world and the acorn street lights along MacArthur Avenue winked on in rapid succession, I met a group of Bellevue residents who were just stepping out of the newest shop to open on Bellevue’s interior commercial strip.

By Charles McGuigan 03.2020

Bellevue Garden Walk Returns April 25 

The Bellevue Garden Walk may well be the most intimate of garden tours in the region, and each year (except for the one just past) it has consistently illustrated the beauty, the individuality and the creative drive of Bellevue homeowners reflected in their mini-estates. 

Bellevue Porchella: ACT II, May 15

From the moment it ended, people were calling for an encore.

Bellevue Porchella, which sprang to life last October, was the brainchild of Brooke Ullman. On May 15, with May 22 as a rain date, Bellevue Porchella returns. What’s more, this day of music will repeat again in the early fall, becoming a semiannual event in the Northside.

Where in the Bellevue?!

Black Mirror Medicine for the Soul

“Let’s meet on the Bellevue dance floor,” they suggested. It was a euphemism of course.  At the new brick patio on the corner of Fauquier and Bellevue, I was to meet the people behind Where in the Bellevue?! (@where_in_the_bellevue), the Instagram account that’s been on my neighbors’ lips for almost a year.

By Fayeruz Regan 02.2021

Bending the Arc with $25 Million for Historic Justice Initiatives

 Virginia is bending the arc of the moral universe toward justice thanks to a new budget item proposal from Governor Ralph Northam

On December 11, the Governor Northam announced a proposed budget that will include nearly $25 million to transform historic sites and advance historic justice efforts.

Mural Reflecting Northside’s Values of Inclusivity and Unity Coming to MacArthur Avenue in Bellevue

Aliza Sterling, owner of True North Yoga and Wellness on Richmond’s Northside, is working in conjunction with artist Nico Cathcart to create a massive mural on the north elevation of her shop on MacArthur Avenue that will extend from the sidewalk to the alley

Victor Ayala Completes Masonry on Bellevue’s Latest Addition

Victor Ayala, a master mason and owner of My Outdoor Project, just completed a project that will benefit the entire Bellevue community.

Santa Claus Was Not White, He Was a Person of Color

Emboldened by a president who was endorsed by white supremacists (the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, among others), chowderheads, back in December of 2016, on around the feast day of Saint Nicholas, commenced a racist firestorm on social media and even tried to shut down that nightmarish entity of Minnesota origin—the Mall of America.

By Charles McGuigan 12.2020

Matt Lively’s New Mural at HOBNOB: It’s All About Fifties

In early December, Matt Lively is putting the finishing touches on a mural that spans the entire south wall of HOBNOB on Hermitage Road. One of his signature beecycle murals already graces the north wall of the same Lakeside restaurant.

By Charles McGuigan 12.2020

Alexsis Rodgers and Kim Gray In Richmond Mayoral Race

From the moment Richmond mayoral candidates burst from the gate, there were two notable front runners. Both are Black, both are women, both were born and raised in the Richmond area. This, too: both of them are critical of the incumbent mayor’s leadership.

By Charles McGuigan 10.2020

On the Inside Looking Out: Imprisoned During a Pandemic

In prison, change of any kind—good or bad—is unwelcome. It's important to keep all activities and procedures on a strict schedule. To do otherwise leads to confusion, which can make inmates restless.

By Chad Hensley 10.2020

Election: 2020 Decision

North of the James reached out to candidates for several local elections—Mayor, and 3rd District Council and School Board representatives. We asked each of them to give a brief platform state.

09.2020

College Graduation in a Pandemic

Covid-19 disease has fundamentally transformed daily life in countless ways such as how people work, shop, and socialize and have furthermore impacted a cornerstone of American education that millions every year have attended until now - college graduation ceremonies.

By Andrew Churcher 09.2020

COVID-19 Teens

COVID-19 has changed the way we live. Teenagers and young adults have been affected in unique ways. For one thing, graduations have been held differently during the pandemic. They have been wearing masks when in public, staying six feet apart from other people, and properly washing their hands.

By Charles Brandon Rapp McGuigan 08.2020

Demi’s Reopens, Dot’s Expands Outdoors

Jimmy Tsamouras recently reopened his Demi’s Mediterranean Kitchen in Bellevue. The hours have changed somewhat from five to nine Tuesday through Thursday and five till ten on Friday and Saturday.

08.2020

NORTHSIDE Dental Co Opens in Northside

One of Northside’s newest neighbors opened its doors for the first time last month during the COVID-19 pandemic. The space at the corner of Westwood and Hermitage had been undergoing extensive renovation for months.   

08.2020

Purple Haze With Adolph White

Adolph White was a naturalist long before he knew what one was. He could step out into a wild world that was “like a friend I depended on,” says Adolph, who grew up in the Spring Grove community of Surry County, where his parents, Roosevelt and Ethel White, worked as sharecroppers. 

By Kathy Butler Springston 08.2020

Protests Work: Atlantic Coast Pipeline Dismantled

On July 5, 2020, Dominion Power and Duke Energy formally announced that they were canceling their efforts to build a 600 mile pipeline from West Virginia, through Virginia, to the North Carolina coast.

By Jack R. Johnson 07.2020

A.P. Hill: The Last Man Standing

When my son Charles attended Linwood Holton Elementary School, it always struck me as odd that his Black classmates, every single day, had to look at a statue to a man who fought to preserve the enslavement of Black people.

By Charles McGuigan 07.2020

Monument Avenue Soon To Be “A Road Less Traveler”

When the monuments began to come down last month, they were like bowling pins, falling in slow motion. A massive ball of outrage, molded from centuries of racism and inequity, struck the pocket perfectly—no spare; just a resounding, if protracted, strike.

By Charles McGuigan 07.2020

The Dandelion Garden: An Outdoor Classroom

Back in mid-May, shortly after noon, and the temperature unseasonably cool, I met up with three women who nurture The Dandelion at Holton Elementary School. Two of them—Ellen Shepard and Susanna Raffenot, the OGs, or Original Gardeners, as they’re sometimes called—planted the initial seeds, almost ten years ago to the day, for a project that has frankly surprised this pair of progenitors.

By Charles McGuigan 06.2020

Outdoor Projects With Victor Ayala

Victor came here as a boy, just sixteen year old. His back story, like that of many immigrants, is absolutely harrowing.

By Charles McGuigan 06.2020

Bellevue Mutual Aid: Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Bellevue—bounded by Hermitage and Brook roads to the east and west, and Laburnum and Westbrook avenues to the south and north—is one of the most progressive neighborhoods in the city, peppered liberally with well-informed citizens—artists, writers, musicians, craftsmen, teachers, lawyers, and many other professionals.

By Charles McGuigan 05.2020

Senator Tim Kaine

Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, a man of the people, a man of faith and compassion who seeks the North Star of an ever more perfect Union even during this global pandemic and these divisive times, is good enough to take time out of a very busy schedule to talk with me a few weeks ago from his front porch in the Northside.

By Charles McGuigan 05.2020

Play Therapy: Speaking to Kids in Their Own Language

Counselors Susan Muhoro and Angela Marshall help children express their feelings through play in Lynchburg, Virginia.

By Connor Lobb 04.2020

Searching for Stonewall Jackson

In his book, “Searching for Stonewall Jackson: A Quest for Legacy in a Divided America”, Ben examines, in fairly minute detail, just about every facet of this enigmatic, and tight-lipped wizard of warfare, a man of glaring contradictions.

By Charles McGuigan 01.2020

Kambourian Jewelers: The Cutting Edge

The Kambourians are to jewelry, as the James River is to Richmond. They define it.

By Charles McGuigan 12.2019