Tree Hill (Richmond, Virginia)
Tree Hill | |
 | |
   | |
| Location | VA 5, near Richmond, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°29′46″N 77°24′49″W / 37.49611°N 77.41361°W |
| Area | 531 acres (215 ha) |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 74002127[1] |
| VLR No. | 043-0032 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 17, 1974 |
| Designated VLR | May 21, 1974[2] |
Tree Hill near
On the night of April 3, 1865, as Richmond burned due to fires set by evacuating Confederate forces, Richmond mayor
History
Tree Hill Farm has been occupied for more than two centuries, during the colonial era by the
In 1855, Franklin Stearns bought the plantation from the Roanes. Although a Unionist (and imprisoned as well as placed in house arrest various times during the American Civil War), Stearns allowed cattle belonging to the Confederate's Chimborazo Hospital to graze on the property,[5] for which the Confederate government paid him. Union troops occupied the house in April 1865.[6]
On the property's east side stood the Surrender Tree, a massive oak that reputedly marked the spot where Mayor
The Burlee family bought the farm from Stearns' children in 1910, and successive generations kept it as a farm until recently. Tree Hill was listed on the
Current status
A historical marker has commemorated the site since 2002,[8] and in 2015 re-enactors and others marked the 150th anniversary of Richmond's surrender there.[7] In 2014, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks filmed Ithaca at the property.[9] The oak fell during a severe thunderstorm in the summer of 2012.[4] The property is now owned by Gray Land and Development Company, which secured permission to develop the site with as many as 2,770 homes and 1.1 million square feet of office space, conditioned upon restoration of the manor house and barn, as well as set-asides for a school, library and place to honor the area's Native American heritage.[10]
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission staff (April 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Tree Hill" (PDF). Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission. Retrieved 2017-01-09. and Accompanying photo at Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, undated at p. 4
- ^ a b A Tree Falls henricomonthly.com [dead link]
- ^ Southern Historical Society papers, p. 90 available at https://archive.org/stream/southernhistoric3619sout/southernhistoric3619sout_djvu.txt
- ^ a b vaNRHPnom p. 4
- ^ a b "Henrico Citizen | Henrico County, VA News".
- ^ Surrender of Richmond marker markerhistory.com [dead link]
- ^ "Country living with a city view—Historic Tree Hill Farm". 29 September 2015.
- ^ "Henrico OKs Tree Hill Farm". 12 December 2007.
