Downtown
RVA Legends — The Grasbergers
A look into the history of Richmond places and people that have disappeared from our landscape.
![[RVCJ93] — showing B. A. Grasberger shop on West Broad Street](https://rvahub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Grasberger-1.png)
B. A. Grasberger
- 1011-1013 West Broad Street
- Built, after 1889
J. A. Grasberger Carriage Works
- AKA, Grasberger Vehicle Company
- 16-18 North Twentieth Street
- Built, before 1877
- Demolished, unknown
- AKA, General Hospital #14 (Second Georgia), Castle Thunder Hospital
- 20-24 North Twentieth Street
- Built, 1849
A tale of two carriage makers.
(VCU) — 1889 Baist Atlas Map of Richmond — Plate 10 — showing the theoretical location of B. A. Grasberger’s shop
B. A. Grasberger, carriage and wagon manufacturer, of 1011 and 1013 West Broad Street, has been established about two years. He pays special attention to the making of light work to order, like buggies, carriages and delivery wagons, and he has a first-rate trade and is prospering.
May 2019 — looking towards 1011-1013 West Broad Street from Hancock Street
Mr. Grasberger is a Pennsylvanian by birth, but has lived here nearly all his life. He learned his trade here, and was considered one of the most expert mechanics in it in this city before he started on his own account. He makes superior work a specialty. His factory is equipped with all the necessary appliances for the expeditious turning out of his productions. [RVCJ93]
(Library of Congress) — Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Richmond (1905) — Plate 60
Grasberger’s location at 1011-1013 West Broad Street, while technically within the city limits at the time, was like having a shop at the edge of the known universe. It wasn’t a location that sported regular business traffic, and the 1889 Baist map shows nothing at the location. The 1905 Sanborn map calls both of these addresses as sheds, so the operation must have been small.
This might explain the new business established by his older brother.
![[RVCJ03] — 16-18 North Twentieth Street](https://rvahub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Grasberger-5.jpg)
[RVCJ03] — 16-18 North Twentieth Street
May 2019 — looking toward 16-18 North Twentieth Street
What happened to Boniface? Did he join his brother and together form a new business, and it just didn’t have his name? There is nothing that states so, but he would have only been 38 in 1903, and he lived until 1945. Unless he suffered something catastrophic that made him stop working, it makes sense that he would continue to be a carriage maker, just like the days of old. Going into business with his brother doesn’t seem like a stretch, but we don’t know.
(VCU) — 1889 Baist Atlas Map of Richmond — Plate 3 — showing both of 16-18 North Twentieth Street shop
Julius set up shop in a pair of two-story industrial buildings that at the least, pre-date the 1877 Beers maps, and which may have been at least as old as the building that directly faced it from across the alley.
(Newspapers.com) — advertisement in Richmond Times-Dispatch — Sunday, February, 14 1909
However, unlike Samuel Cottrell, Julius A. Grasberger could see the future. By the early twentieth century seems to have gravitated away from carriage and wagon business, and made the transition to selling automobiles.
(Library of Congress) — Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Richmond (1905) — Plate 45 — showing both 16-18 North Twentieth (bottom) and 20-24 North Twentieth (top)
His place of business was across Rose Alley in what at one time was General Hospital #14, Castle Thunder Hospital. Not to be confused with Castle Thunder military prison, which was close by, but a four-story brick tobacco factory that was built in 1845.
May 2019 — looking toward 20-24 North Twentieth Street
It was managed under the auspices of the Georgia Hospital Association and became the second of four hospitals established for sick and wounded Georgians (the first was General Hosptial #16, the third was #19, and the fourth was #17). It was older and smaller than similar buildings but the capacity was still listed as 150. There were three wards and each bed was numbered in paint on the footboard. A “very insufficient privy” was located in the small yard behind the building.
It remained a Confederate hospital from October 1861 to March 1863. [RWH]
(Newspapers.com) — advertisement in Richmond Times-Dispatch — Sunday, September 1, 1912
Eventually, Julius expanded his business all the way to Franklin Street, which if he still used the other two properties, gave him command of most of the west side of Twentieth Street. No clues when the original factory buildings were pulled down, but a likely candidate would be when that portion of Twentieth from Rose Alley to Main Street was converted to a parking lot for the Poe Museum.
(B. A. Grasberger & J. A. Grasberger Carriage Works are part of the Atlas RVA! Project)
Print Sources
- [RVCJ03] Richmond, Virginia: The City on the James: The Book of Its Chamber of Commerce and Principal Business Interests. G. W. Engelhardt. 1903.
- [RVCJ93] Richmond, Virginia: The City on the James: The Book of Its Chamber of Commerce and Principal Business Interests. G. W. Engelhardt. 1893.
- [RWH] Richmond’s Wartime Hospitals. Rebecca Barbour Calcutt. 2005.
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Downtown
Feds identify ‘significant’ ongoing concerns with Virginia special education
After failing to meet federal requirements to support students with disabilities in 2020, the Virginia Department of Education will remain under further review by the federal government after continuing to fall short in monitoring and responding to complaints against school districts, according to a letter from the U.S. Department of Education.
By Nathaniel Cline
After failing to meet federal requirements to support students with disabilities in 2020, the Virginia Department of Education will remain under further review by the federal government after continuing to fall short in monitoring and responding to complaints against school districts, according to a letter from the U.S. Department of Education.
“We have significant new or continued areas of concerns with the State’s implementation of general supervision, dispute resolution, and confidentiality requirements” of IDEA, stated the Feb. 17 letter from the Office of Special Education Programs.
The U.S. Department of Education first flagged its concerns in a June 2020 “Differentiated Monitoring and Support Report” on how Virginia was complying with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, following a 2019 visit by the Office of Special Education Programs.
IDEA, passed in 1975, requires all students with disabilities to receive a “free appropriate public education.”
The Virginia Department of Education disputed some of the federal government’s findings in a June 19, 2020 letter.
Samantha Hollins, assistant superintendent of special education and student services, wrote that verbal complaints “are addressed via technical assistance phone calls to school divisions” and staff members “regularly work to resolve parent concerns” by providing “guidance documentation” and acting as intermediaries between school employees and parents.
However, some parents and advocates say systemic problems in how the state supports families of children with disabilities persist. At the same time, a June 15, 2022 state report found one of Virginia’s most critical teacher shortage areas is in special education.
“Appropriate policies and procedures for both oversight and compliance, and their implementation, are crucial to ensuring that children with disabilities and their families are afforded their rights under IDEA and that a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is provided,” said the Feb. 17 letter from the Office of Special Education Programs.
While the U.S. Department of Education wrote that it believes the Virginia Department of Education has resolved some of the problems identified in 2020, including resolving complaints filed by parents and creating a mediation plan, it said it has identified “new and continued areas of concern” and intends to continue monitoring Virginia’s provision of services for students with disabilities.
Among those are ongoing concerns over the state’s complaint and due process systems that “go beyond the originally identified concerns” originally found. The Office of Special Education Programs writes it has concluded Virginia “does not have procedures and practices that are reasonably designed to ensure a timely resolution process” for due process complaints.
The department also said it has concerns over the practices of at least five school districts that are inconsistent with IDEA’s regulations.
The decision comes after the U.S. Department of Education announced in November that Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia’s largest school district, failed to provide thousands of students with disabilities with the educational services they were entitled to during remote learning at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Virginia is also facing a federal class-action lawsuit over claims that its Department of Education and Fairfax County Public Schools violated the rights of disabled students under IDEA.
Parents involved in the case said the Virginia Department of Education and Fairfax school board “have actively cultivated an unfair and biased” hearing system to oversee challenges to local decisions about disabled students, according to the suit.
Charles Pyle, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education, said in an email that “VDOE continues to work with our federal partners to ensure Virginia’s compliance with all federal requirements, as we have since the ‘Differentiated Monitoring and Support Report’ was issued in June 2020.”
The federal government said if Virginia could not demonstrate full compliance with IDEA requirements, it could impose conditions on grant funds the state receives to support early intervention and special education services for children with disabilities and their families.
Last year, Virginia received almost $13.5 billion in various grants linked to IDEA, according to a July 1, 2022 letter to former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, who resigned on March 9.
James Fedderman, president of the Virginia Education Association, blasted Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration after the findings were released.
“While the Youngkin administration has been busy waging culture wars in schools, his administration has failed to meet basic compliance requirements with the U.S. Department of Education for students with disabilities,” Fedderman said. “This failure threatens our federal funding for students with disabilities and is a disservice to Virginia families who need critical special needs support.”
Downtown
Richmond 911 callers can soon provide feedback on calls for service via text message
Beginning March 20, those who call 911 with some types of non-life-threatening emergencies will receive a text message within hours or a day after the call with a short survey about the service they received on the call.
Some 911 callers in Richmond will begin to receive follow-up text messages next week asking for their ranking of the service they received and additional information.
Beginning March 20, those who call 911 with some types of non-life-threatening emergencies will receive a text message within hours or a day after the call with a short survey about the service they received on the call.
The Richmond Department of Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response is using the feedback from callers as another way to ensure that it is continuing to deliver excellent emergency services to Richmond.
“It is very important that those who receive the text message answer the questions as accurately as possible, based on the service they received on the call, not on the response from first responders with different agencies,” said Director Stephen Willoughby. “We use the feedback that callers provide to monitor and improve our 911 services to Richmond residents and visitors, as well as the other measurements of service that we have in place.”
Those who would like to offer feedback, but do not receive a text message, are encouraged to email [email protected] or call 804-646-5911. More information about offering commendations or filing a complaint is on the department’s website athttps://www.rva.gov/911/comments. In addition, the department conducts a full survey of adults who live, work and study in Richmond every two years. More information about those surveys and results are at https://www.rva.gov/911/community-outreach.
The Department of Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response is using a third-party vendor, PowerEngage, to send the text-message surveys and report the results. Text messages may be sent for other uses in the future.
More information about the text-message surveys, from the news release:
- The answers that callers provide in the text message have no effect on the service provided to that caller.
- Callers who do not want to participate in the text-message survey would simply not respond to the text message. They also may reply STOP to opt out of future text surveys from DECPR.
- Callers should not use the surveys to report any other emergency or request help. They would need to call or text 911 for immediate help. To file a police report or request nonemergency public safety help, call 804-646-5100. For other city services, call 311, visit rva311.com or use the RVA311 app.
- Those who have further questions or would like to request a call-back from a staff member about the survey or their experiences, may email [email protected].
- More information about the after-call survey is at https://www.rva.gov/911/survey.
Students in 9th-11th grade can apply to join the next cohort of this summer’s Atlas Artist Residency—an 8-week art intensive giving teens the opportunity to develop artistic skills while working alongside professional artists in a creative and collaborative environment. 10 teens will be selected to participate and awarded personal art-studio space, a program stipend of $1350, materials, and the opportunity to expand their portfolio of work and bolster their resume for college applications.
Applications are open through March 16, 2023.
Head to https://www.art180.org/student-artist-residency for the details and to submit your application!
University of Richmond announces new provost
Henrico HS principal honored with REB Leadership Award; Colonial Trail ES principal is runner-up
Photo of the Day: Sunset Road
City hosting public meeting on replacement of Byrd Park Reservoir roof
Photo of the Day: Kaleidoscope
Gardeners Wanted to Help in Forest Hill Park
Husband-and-wife duo bringing new restaurant concept to former Mill on MacArthur space
New full-service commercial kitchen, fast casual food hall opens Wednesday
Richmond Falcon Cam is Back
