Richmond

Capital and seaport of Virginia, on the James River, 336 km/209 mi from its mouth on the Atlantic, 160 km/100 mi south of Washington, DC; population (2000 est) 197,800. It is a major tobacco market and a distribution, commercial, and financial centre for the surrounding region. Industries include the manufacture of tobacco products, processed foods, chemicals, metalware, paper and print, and textiles. It was incorporated in 1737 and became the state capital in 1779.

The English colonist John Smith explored the area in 1607, and the first colonial settlement was established by the falls of the James River in 1637. Fort Charles was built in 1644 to protect the community, which initially developed as a trading centre. The city was laid out in 1737, and named after Richmond, England. In 1775 the politician Patrick Henry supported the arming of the Virginia militia with a speech at the city's St John's Episcopal Church, in which he declared, ‘Give me liberty or give me death’. As capital of the Confederate States of America in 1861, it was attacked repeatedly during the Civil War, and finally taken in April 1865 by the Union general Ulysses S Grant; the inhabitants fled in the face of his advance, leaving much of the city in flames. Richmond National Battlefield Park, one of Richmond's entries on the national register of historic places, commemorates the battles fought nearby. The cigarette-rolling machine was invented in Richmond in the 1870s.

Educational and cultural facilities Institutions for higher education include the University of Richmond (1830), Virginia Commonwealth University (1838), Union Theological Seminary (1812), and Virginia Union University (1865). The Museum of the Confederacy, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, and the Tredegar Iron Works museum are here. The performing arts are represented by a theatre, ballet company, and symphony orchestra.

Architecture Sites of interest include the former homes of the politician and jurist John Marshall and the Confederate general Robert E Lee, and the graves of US presidents James Madison, James Monroe, and John Tyler. Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate states in 1861–65, is also buried in the city. Capitol Square contains the Washington Monument (1858) and a bronze statue to the Confederate general ‘Stonewall’ Jackson; the Capitol (1788), designed by US president Thomas Jefferson in the style of his favourite building, the Roman Maison Carré temple in Nîmes, France, has statues of Robert E Lee and US president George Washington.

Richmond

City and port in Contra Costa County, north-central California, USA; population (1990) 87,400. It is situated on the northeast shore of San Francisco Bay and southwest shore of San Pablo Bay, 10 km/6 mi north-northwest of Berkeley and connected to Marin County by the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge. It is one of the busiest US Pacific ports, and an oil refining centre. Richmond is also a manufacturing centre producing petroleum products, processed foods, aerospace components and motor-vehicles.

Richmond

County in New York City, comprising the island and borough of Staten Island, on the west side of New York harbour, close to the New Jersey shore; population (1990) 379,000. It is linked by the Verrazano Narrows Bridge (built 1964) to Brooklyn, and by ferry to the southern end of Manhattan Island, known as the Battery. The population has been increasing steadily because of the easy access to the rest of New York. 31% of its 172,00-strong work-force commute to Manhattan.