Broad Street - 1957

From RPI's 1957 Cobblestone yearbook I present to you: Broad Street in 1957, looking West. You can see The National on the right to give you an idea of where this shot was taken.

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

Willow Lawn ad - 1983

Here's a great ad from 1983 for Willow Lawn shopping center's 27th anniversary.

The Village Restaurant - 1963

I recently read an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch about the passing of the original owner of The Village restaurant on Grace Street: Stavros D. "Steve" Dikos. I was reminded of the photo below from the 1963 VCU yearbook The Cobblestone. It's of the original location, across the street from the current Village.

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

Lucky Strike Factory - 1974

Here's a great shot from 1974 of the building at the end of Tobacco Row: The old Lucky Strike cigarette factory and power plant on Cary Street. The building was built in 1910 and was in operation until 1987. It sat vacant for many years until a recent renovation of the entire block...I think it was the last building in Tobacco Row to be renovated? Today this building features loft apartments and offices. I don't know what I like more in this picture, the giant brand names on the side of the building that are long gone, or the worker's cars in the foreground.

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

First African Baptist Church - 1865

Here are two great pictures of the original First African Baptist Church from 1865. The church in these photos was built in 1802, and torn down in 1876. It was replaced in 1877 by the structure that still stands today at 301 College Street in downtown Richmond, although that building was sold to the Medical College of Virginia in 1955 when the congregation moved to it's current home in Barton Heights. It's now used as offices, classrooms and laboratories for VCU.

Here's a detailed closeup of the group of people in the second photo.

In the next two photos Broad Street is going right to left. Today, I-95 crosses under Broad St just down the hill to the right.

Photos courtesy of The Library of Congress

Shoppers on Broad Street - 1960s

From roughly the mid 1960s comes this shot of shoppers on Broad Street in front of the entrance to the old Woolworth's store. This corner is now the parking lot/entrance to the Hilton Garden Inn/Miller & Rhoads Condos.

All Roads Lead to Azalea Mall - 1983

Today we take a trip back to 1983 for this Azalea Mall ad. Some of the businesses listed below can still be seen on the faded rusty sign in the weed covered parking lot where the Azalea Mall used to be.