Union Hill Historic District

Union Hill is a residential neighborhood in Richmond's east end, set on hills once cut off from the rest of Church Hill by a deep ravine and the bluffs above Shockoe Valley. Laid out in 1805 by John Adams and Benjamin Mosby, its streets bend and climb with the terrain instead of following the city grid, producing odd triangular blocks. The district holds 369 buildings and a park, mostly modest frame and brick houses for tailors, tanners, carpenters and other working families. Many predate the 1867 annexation from Henrico County. Greek Revival houses and cottages dominate the antebellum period, followed by Italianate and Late Victorian dwellings and several Romanesque and Gothic churches along Venable Street. Street grading left many houses perched on raised foundations. Dozens of antebellum buildings have been demolished and abandonment remains a concern, yet the neighborhood keeps a high level of integrity and a distinctive sense of its historic setting.