The Richmond Discover Our Shared Heritage travel itinerary was produced by the National Park Service's Heritage Education Services, the City of Richmond, the Richmond National Battlefield Park and Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, in partnership with the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers. The Richmond travel itinerary is based primarily on registration information on historic places in the National Park Service National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks collections. These archives are kept at 1201 Eye St., NW, Washington, D.C. and are open to the public. Some of the collection is online. All of the registration forms are also accessible online through the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. The Virginia Landmarks Register was another source of information.
The itinerary was conceptualized by Michael C.Yengling, Historic Preservation
Planner with the City of Richmond’s Planning and Preservation Division,
and written mostly by Mr. Yengling and Tyler Potterfield, Architectural
Historian and Senior Planner in the same division. Catherine Easterling,
Intern, now Planner I with the City of Richmond's Preservation and Planning
Division, provided support and editing, as well as writing several of
the entries. With the support of Cynthia MacLeod, National Park
Service Superintendent of Richmond National Battlefield Park and Maggie
L. Walker National Historic Site, Bob Krick of Richmond National Battlefield
Park wrote or edited the sections of the itinerary that relate to units
of the National Park System. Acting Superintendent Dave Ruth provided advice and support. From the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, State Historic Preservation Officer Kathleen Kilpatrick provided advice and suggested additions and revisions, while Calder Loth,
Senior Architectural Historian, wrote the descriptions of several historic places and Elizabeth Tune of the Department's staff provided additional details. Lesley Howson Bruno, Director of Public Relations and Marketing for the Valentine Richmond History Center provided the description of the Wickham-Valentine House and editorial revisions for several other sites. Mr. Yengling, Mr. Potterfield, and
Ms. Easterling took most of the contemporary photographs or obtained them
from Historic Richmond Foundation. Richmond National Battlefield
Park and the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site also provided photographs, as did the Valentine Richmond History Center and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. The majority of historic images, used with permission, are from
the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries digital collection, “Rarely
Seen Richmond: Early twentieth century Richmond, Virginia as seen through
vintage postcards.” Carol Shull, Chief, Heritage Education
Services, National Park Service edited and managed production of the itinerary.
Kathryn Warnes, graduate student at George Washington University’s
School of Business, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management assisted
in editing and making final corrections, and programmed the itinerary. Jaclyn
Wright, graduate student in the American University Public History Program,
also assisted in programming and making final corrections. Hyejung Kwon
designed the computer template for the itineraries as the practicum for
her Masters of Tourism Administration (MTA) at George Washington University’s
School of Business, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management.
The itinerary was produced with the support of the National Park Service's Jon Smith, Assistant Associate Director for Heritage Preservation Services; Bryan Mitchell, Chief, Heritage Preservation Services; Paul Loether, Chief, National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks; and Richard O’Connor, Chief, Historical Documentation Programs. Assistant Associate Director for Historical Documentation Programs, Antoinette Lee provided suggestions on the content. Shannon Davis, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers contractor, assigned to the NPS Battlefield Protection Program under Paul Hawke, and Jeff Joeckel of the National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks staff provided advice and assistance in the development of the itinerary. John Knoerl, Deidre McCarthy, James Stein, and Matthew Stutts of NPS's Cultural Resources Geographic Information Systems, Historical Documentation Programs under John Knoerl provided training and advice concerning Geographic Information System (GIS) maps used in the itinerary. Amber Young, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers contractor with the NPS Museum Management Program under Lynn Black also provided advice and assistance.
Thank you to John F. Berry, Jr. President and CEO, and Jennifer H. Carnam,
Vice President of Marketing of the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and
Visitors Bureau for their advice on the contents and for supporting and
hosting the itinerary's launch. Thank you also to Rachel O’Dwyer
Flynn, Director of the City of Richmond’s Department of Community
Development; Historic Richmond Foundation, and the William Byrd
Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities;
the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods; Ryan Ramsey of Richmond
City Watch; Ray Bonis, Special Collections archivist, VCU Libraries; the Library
of Virginia; the City of Richmond Commission of Architectural Review;
Doug Welsh, Project Coordinator for the National Historic Landmark John
Marshall House; Edwin Slipek Jr., architectural critic for Style Weekly;
Megan E. Stagg, Public Relations Specialist, The Museum of the Confederacy; and many others for their ongoing encouragement and support for
the acknowledgement and preservation of Richmond’s cultural and
architectural heritage and in some cases their help in improving the content of the itinerary. Thanks must also go out to the people of
Richmond for sharing their historic places.
Photo Captions for Homepage: The Virginia
State Capitol, Congo Relief of Belgian Building, Broad Street Station,
courtesy of Tyler Potterfield of the City of Richmond Department of Community
Development; Gaines Mill Gun House, courtesy of Richmond National Battlefield
Park; Leigh Street view of Maggie L. Walker House, courtesy of Tyler Potterfield
of the City of Richmond Department of Community Development; Tredegar
Iron Works, courtesy of National Park Service’s Richmond’s
Visitors Center; Monument Avenue, Wickham-Valentine House Garden, and
Belle Isle courtesy of Tyler Potterfield of the City of Richmond Department
of Community Development.
