RVA Legends — Von Groning House

1901 Pleasants Street
AKA Strecker’s Alley, Pleasant Street, & Cedar Street
Built, 1847
Demolished, unknown

You shouldn’t doubt Mary Wingfield Scott.

(LOC) — Beers Illustrated Atlas of the Cities of Richmond & Manchester, 1877

Pleasants Street is what she calls it, although you won’t find any street of that name on Union Hill today. Today it’s called Cedar Street. A little confusing, since there is also a Pleasant Street over in Fairfield.

But looking at the map, the name makes sense, since there were two neighbors, S.M. Pleasants, and E.C. Pleasants close by. Cool!

(LOC) — Beers Illustrated Atlas of the Cities of Richmond & Manchester, 1877

The problem is that Beers is not consistent. Plate Section G clearly shows it as Pleasants Street. The Map Index however shows it as Pleasant Street.

(VCU) — Baist Atlas Map of Richmond (1889)

And it gets worse, when you try to reconcile against other maps. Baist calls it Pleasant street. Aaarrrggghhh!

(LOC) — Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Richmond (1905)

So does Sanborn! It makes your head spin. It’s not clear how or why the name ended up losing the S, but it seems best to go with Ms. Scott’s selection, based on evidence.

What’s in a name, right?

Across Pleasants Street, formerly called Strecker’s Alley, there still stands a fine brick house built four years after the Strecker-Hassel house by Daniel von Groning, whose widow lived there until the early ’eighties.

November 2016

As one crosses the viaduct, this house, with one behind it built by Albert G. Stubbs, forms one of the most striking ensembles of old Richmond buildings. South of these houses formerly stood another large one, built in 1853 by Albert Lybrock, the architect, and in later years the home first of the Hoffbauer family and afterwards of the Benno Hemrichs. [ORN]

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