In the 1880s, Lewis Ginter, a wealthy businessman, opened a resort on this land just northwest of Richmond. An avid gardener, he planted and cared for much of the foliage that still thrives in the park today. Upon his death, the property passed to his niece who opened a hospice for children in Ginter's home. She also cultivated the gardens and imported several rare plants. The land is now operated by the city as a botanical garden. Explore the Victorian garden, nature trails and the home, and perhaps stop at the Tea House for lunch.
This Tudor house once overlooked the Irwell River in Lancashire, England. In 1929, it was moved to this site, reminiscent of the original, overlooking the James River in Richmond's Windsor Farms neighborhood. Agecroft contains furnishings dating back from 1485 to 1660, including an interesting 1610 lantern clock that tells time only on the hour. Landscape artist Charles Gillette designed the gardens, which include an Elizabethan knot garden that blooms with fragrant and medicinal plants. When you visit Agecroft, you are stepping back in time and into the lives of gentry in the English Tudor period. Guided tours are available for the museum and the gardens are self-guided.
Founded in 1847, Hollywood is one of the oldest cemeteries in Richmond. Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General J.E.B. Stuart, Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler, novelists James Branch Cabel and Ellen Glasgow, and 18,000 Confederate soldiers, 11,000 of the unknown, are a few examples of the historical figures buried here. Hollywood has the city's best view of the James River. When the cemetery was first established, neighbors declared that the rushing of the falls would, literally, wake the dead. Guided tours are available on the last Sunday of each month through October.
