Downtown
RVA Legends — Hanover House
A look into the history of Richmond places and people that have disappeared from our landscape.
![[HOR]](https://rvahub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Hanover-House-1.jpg)
AKA, Marx-Freeland House
101 South Fifth Street
Built, 1813-I4
Demolished, 1891
Architect, Robert Mills (?)
A cautionary tale about playing with gunpowder.
(Find A Grave) — Joseph Marx
“Hanover House” was built in 1813-14 by Joseph Marx and was so called because the builder’s father had been court physician to the Elector of Hanover. Joseph Marx was born in that German city in 1773. By 1796 he was living in Manchester, his business being that of practically every other merchant in the vicinity of Richmond at that period—importing manufactured goods and taking tobacco or other produce in exchange.
(Etsy) — an Osnaburg, or Oznaburg, shirt
In 1807 he advertised German Oznaburgs, Ticklenburgs, Dowlas and Towelling, which he would sell for cash, tobacco, or approved paper.
Marx had married the sister of another Jew distinguished in the life of early nineteenth-century Richmond—Samuel Myers. Joseph and Richea Myers Marx had nine children, some of whom became the ancestors of many well-known Virginia families. Like other Jewish families of this period in Richmond’s history, the children married Gentiles, and their descendants practically all drifted away from any connection with the Jewish community in Richmond.
(Library of Congress) — Beers Illustrated Atlas of the Cities of Richmond & Manchester, 1877 — Plate K — showing ownership by W. C. Mayo
Joseph Marx died in 1840 and his house was sold almost immediately. Until 1854 it was owned and occupied by George Taylor. In that year he sold it to John Freeland, who thus joined the ranks of tobacconists who at that time owned most of the fine houses on Fifth Street. The Freelands lived there for nearly two decades, and older people in Richmond still call it the Freeland house. In 1872 John Freeland died, and his house was purchased by William C. Mayo, whose mother had been a daughter of the builder.
(Find A Grave) — Governor Henry A. Wise
During the brief years that the Mayos owned it two of the Mayo children were born in the house their great-grandfather had built. In 1876 Mrs. Mayo’s father, General Henry A. Wise, died at his daughter’s home. He had been Governor of Virginia from 1856 to 1860, and a gallant Confederate soldier.
In 1877 the house was purchased by Major Frederic R. Scott, whose large family added to the liveliness of the neighborhood, both during their tenure of the Marx house and while they were living in the nearby Barney and Allan houses.
(Find A Grave) — Lewis Ginter
Their most spectacular exploit occurred one Christmas morning in the Marx house. It seems that the boys kept an earthenware jug of gunpowder on the mantelpiece. Before their parents were out of bed, the house was shaken by a terrific explosion, and Jim dashed down to his mother’s room, covered with blood! While he was playing in a corner and Fred lying quietly on his bed, Tom had thrown a lighted firecracker, which had unfortunately landed in the jar of gunpowder. The house was not burned down, nor were any of the boys killed, but that Christmas the doctor had a busier time than Santa Claus, sewing up the cuts made by that jug!
Major Scott sold the Marx-Freeland house in 1881, and the purchaser, Wilson C. Thomas, who had just sold the Daniel Call house, lived there for some time. In 1890 it was bought by Major Ginter, who pulled the house down the following year to erect a row of small dwellings on the site.
(Library of Congress) — Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Richmond (1905) — Plate 11 — showing the rowhouses that replace Hanover House
When first built this must have been one of the handsomest houses in Richmond. It was valued for insurance at $23,000, which was more than the valuation of the Wickham house. The property extended to Sixth Street, the outbuildings (coal-house, bath and smokehouse—an odd combination—laundry and icehouse) running down Cary, and the big carriage-house and stable being at the southwest corner of Sixth and Cary. John Freeland pulled down this latter and put up a tobacco stemmery in 1859—the factory area was creeping up and he had sealed the doom of his house.
From the beginning the Marx house had entrance-porches on the east and west sides and a two-story portico on the south. It is noticeable that both here and at “Moldavia” the portico was on the side rather than in the rear, where it invariably was in later houses. “Hanover House” seems to have been stuccoed from the time it was built. The proportions of the exterior are similar to those of the Wickham house—low and broad compared with its height.
Since few people remember the interior, it is difficult to say whether the tradition among the descendants of Joseph Marx that the house was designed by Robert Mills is well-founded or whether it is only a legend.
August 2019 — looking towards 101 South Fifth Street
The chimneys, however, were placed on the outer walls, where those of the Wickham house were closer together, near the centre of the roof. The triple windows on the first floor recall those of the Wickham house, and all the windows seem to have retained their early mouldings. The cornice, however, is evidently of later date than the house. Like the smaller dwelling next door the Marx house had a belt-course and rectangular panels under the second-story windows, the two crowded rather close together for beauty.
Of course, row houses built by Richmond’s great real-estate developer can’t compete with the soulless splendor of a parking deck, which is what remains today.
(Hanover House is part of the Atlas RVA! Project)
Print Sources
- [HOR] Houses of Old Richmond. Mary Wingfield Scott. 1941.
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
