History
RVA Legends — Davenport & Morris
A look into the history of Richmond places and people that have disappeared from our landscape.
![[RVCJ93] — looking northwest towards 112-122 South Seventeenth Street](https://rvahub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Davenport-Morris-1.png)
114-122 South Seventeenth Street
Another piece of the Davenport empire.
(VCU) — 1889 Baist Atlas Map of Richmond — Plate 2 — showing the Davenport & Morris Warehouses at Seventeenth & Dock Streets
Davenport & Morris, wholesale grocers, importers and commission merchants, at Seventeenth and Dock streets, lead all others here of their line, in capital and resources, variety and amount of stock carried and grand aggregate of sales. In 1891 their trade was upwards of $1,500,000. They cover all the States of the South east of the Mississippi river, and have ten men on the road in that field.
![[IOR] — advertisement in Industries of Richmond, 1886](https://rvahub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Davenport-Morris-2-948x683.png)
[IOR] — advertisement in Industries of Richmond, 1886
They occupy here six large warehouses, their own property, adjacent to the docks and with Richmond and Danville side-track, in which they usually have on hand a $200,000 stock. They have 30 employes here.
They make a specialty of the trade in tobacco manufacturers’ supplies and of the importation direct of coffee and liquors. They are, in fact, the largest importers here.
(Library of Virginia) — Isaac Davenport
Four partners hold interests in this house: Isaac Davenport, Jr., who, however, after a a long and busy life as merchant and banker, has practically retired; Junius A. Morris, virtually the head of the house, as senior now in its management; Isaac Davenport and Frank A. Davenport, sons of the late G. B. Davenport, formerly a partner in the house.
(Find A Grave) — Junius Albert Morris
Mr. Isaac Davenport, Jr., is also of Davenport & Co., bankers and insurance men, and agents for the Liverpool and London and Globe Company. He is one of the wealthiest residents of the city, and is interested in many of the most important enterprises here.
![[RVCJ03] Albemarle — Paper Manufacturing Company on Tredegar Street, circa 1903](https://rvahub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Albemarle-1024x582.jpg)
[RVCJ03] Albemarle — Paper Manufacturing Company on Tredegar Street, circa 1903
Mr. Morris is president of the Union Brokerage Company, a director of the First National Bank, the Albemarle Paper Company, manufacturers of blotting paper here, and the Southern Manufacturing Company, coffee roasters and spice grinders and manufacturers of baking powders. Mr. Frank A. Davenport is also a director of the Southern Manufacturing Company, and the Albemarle Paper Company, and is vice-president of the former.
(Library of Congress) — Beers Illustrated Atlas of the Cities of Richmond & Manchester, 1877 — Plate L — showing occupancy at 120 South Seventeenth by Edmond & Davenport
The house is the oldest of any note here. It was established in 1815 by Davenport & Allen. The Davenport of that firm was grandfather to the junior members of to-day. It has membership in the Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. Morris is one of its Committee on Banking and Currency, a selection indicative, surely, of a considerable degree of attain. [RVCJ93]
(Library of Congress) — Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Richmond (1905) — Plate 183 — showing the warehouses now under control of E. A. Saunders & Sons and Lefebvre-Armistead Co.
The real question, of course, is whether or not the buildings that stand there today are part of the original warehouse structure. Without a lot more substantial evidence, the answer is no.
Of course, City of Richmond says that this structure was built in 1905, and that means it could be older because you know CoR property searches don’t always yield an accurate construction date.
January 2019 — looking toward 112-122 South Seventeenth Street today
But that’s an easy notion to dispense with. Compare what’s there today, the two-story Canal Club that extends from Dock to Cary, with the top photo with the ship at the dock. The building in that engraving is four stories and has a clearly marked entrance on the Seventeenth Street side. The current building bears no scars of an entrance that has been sealed up, as you see on many other old buildings in Shockoe Bottom.
(Google Maps) — 2D aerial view of the area between Dock and Cary
Of course, the building might have been remodeled and lost a couple of floors. But if it did, it was completely retooled, and anything incorporated from the original structures was lost. Close inspection of the Sanborn, Beers, and Baist maps above clearly show that the warehouse buildings covered a little over half of the Seventeenth Street frontage, making room for an alley and a factory building to squeeze in. The Canal Club, on the other hand, consumes the entire eastern portion of the block.
(Chronicling America) — Davenport & Morris advertisement — Richmond Times — Friday May 3, 1889
Ultimately, however, Davenport & Morris was only one cog in the respective business interests of these two men, so the demise of the grocery business by 1905 meant little. As mentioned above, they also speculated on tobacco, Davenport ran an investment firm (now the oldest in the city), and Morris would eventually branch out into ice cream and confections.
(Davenport & Morris is part of the Atlas RVA! Project)
Print Sources
- [IOR] Industries of Richmond. James P. Wood. 1886.
- [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.
Downtown
Share Your Stories: PlanRVA launches public history project for Ashland Trolley Line
To honor the Ashland Trolley Line’s history and integration into the Fall Line trail, PlanRVA, and its partners are launching a public history project to solicit stories and memories about the historic streetcar line and the neighborhoods that emerged around it.
For over three decades, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Ashland Trolley Line connected the city of Richmond to the town of Ashland. From 1907-1938, the streetcar line played a major role in the development of neighborhoods along its 14.8-mile route that took 40 minutes for a one-way trip.
Today the corridor represents a significant portion of the upcoming Fall Line trail, a multi-use trail stretching across seven localities from Ashland to Petersburg.
To honor the Ashland Trolley Line’s history and integration into the Fall Line trail, PlanRVA, and its partners are launching a public history project to solicit stories and memories about the historic streetcar line and the neighborhoods that emerged around it. Collected stories will be featured along the Fall Line route.
Local historians and experts will talk about the Ashland Trolley Line’s impact on the region’s past, present, and future at Virginia Union University’s Wall Auditorium on February 23 from 6-7:30 p.m. The event is a kick-off for a series of public meetings along the historic corridor. Anyone interested in the history of the Ashland Trolley Line is invited to attend. Registration is free.
Presenters will include Bill Martin of The Valentine and staff members from PlanRVA and the National Park Service’s Rivers Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, along with others.
The event is organized by PlanRVA, Virginia Union University, and the National Park Service’s Rivers Trails and Conservation Assistance Program.
PlanRVA organizers have begun to compile history and stories on the project’s website.
Community
Library of Virginia celebrates Black History Month with Panel Discussion on Black Political Activism After Claiming Freedom
Editors of the Library’s Dictionary of Virginia Biography joined this project in 2011 in collaboration with the commonwealth’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission to research and write about the 92 African American men who served in the General Assembly from 1869 to 1890.
In honor of Black History Month and as part of its 200th anniversary activities, the Library of Virginia will present a panel discussion on Thursday, Feb. 23 to celebrate the completion of a signature project that documents the lives of Virginia’s first Black legislators. Titled “The First Civil Rights: Black Political Activism After Claiming Freedom,” the free panel discussion, offered in partnership with Virginia Humanities, will be held 6-7:30 p.m. in the Library’s Lecture Hall. Advance registration is required at https://lva-virginia.libcal.com/event/10200777.
Editors of the Library’s Dictionary of Virginia Biography joined this project in 2011 in collaboration with the commonwealth’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission to research and write about the 92 African American men who served in the General Assembly from 1869 to 1890. Their stories are now available online as part of Virginia’s collective digital story thanks to a collaboration with Encyclopedia Virginia, a rich online resource sponsored by Virginia Humanities.
Black Members of the Virginia General Assembly, 1887-1888.
Front row, left to right: Alfred W. Harris (Dinwiddie), William W. Evans (Petersburg), Caesar Perkins(Buckingham).
Back row, left to right: John H. Robinson (Elizabeth City), Goodman Brown (Surry), Nathaniel M. Griggs (Prince Edward), William H. Ash (Nottoway), Briton Baskerville Jr. (Mecklenburg).
“We’re proud to celebrate such a meaningful project to document early African American representation in our commonwealth’s legislature,” said Librarian of Virginia Sandra G. Treadway. “We encourage the public to join us at what will be a very insightful discussion examining the contributions of early Black legislators and their enduring legacy today.”
Panelists for the program, moderated by Virginia Humanities executive director Matthew Gibson, will include the Honorable Viola Baskerville, one of the founders of the project; Lauranett Lee, public historian and University of Richmond adjunct assistant professor; Ajena Rogers, supervisory park ranger at the National Park Service’s Maggie L. Walker Historic Site and a descendant of Black legislator James A. Fields; and historian and author Brent Tarter, a retired editor with the Library of Virginia.
For more information on the panel discussion, contact Elizabeth Klaczynski at 804.692.3536 or [email protected]. Learn more about the Library’s anniversary events at www.lva.virginia.gov/200.
History
StoryCorps encourages Richmonders from different backgrounds to take “One Small Step”
In these challenging times, StoryCorps’ One Small Step program is working to help mend the fraying fabric of our nation–one conversation at a time.
Today, in our divisive political landscape, some nine out of ten Americans say they’re exhausted by our political divisions and looking for a way out. In these challenging times, StoryCorps’ One Small Step program is working to help mend the fraying fabric of our nation–one conversation at a time.
The One Small Step program is working intensively in three “Anchor Communities,” including Richmond, to bring strangers with different political beliefs together–not to debate politics–but to have a conversation about their lives. In the process, the hope is that they both discover their shared humanity.
To date, over 3,000 people across more than 40 U.S. states have participated. Anyone anywhere can be matched for a conversation. Click here to learn more.
In one recent conversation, Richmonders Jerome and Warren learned they had more in common than they thought, even though they’re on different sides of the political aisle.
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