Corner of 14th and Canal St - Before and After

I love this old painted sign for the Phillips Lewis Company at the intersection of 14th Street, Canal Street and Cary Street. You can just barely see the faded remnants of it today behind the trees.

1970:

2012:

Top photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

Reynolds Metals buildings to be redeveloped.

There's a great story in today's Richmond Times-Dispatch about the revitalization of the former Reynolds Metals property along the Haxall Canal in downtown Richmond.

I've been waiting for this to happen since my old roommate and I used to ride our mountain bikes around the then completely desolate canal walk in the early 90s. We've come a long way since then, and this seems like it will be another positive step for downtown Richmond.

The images below give a before and after view of one of the 1970s buildings that is to be torn down, and a look at the renovation of the pedestrian bridge:

 

View of the burned district and the Capitol across the Canal Basin - 1865

Another Civil War era photo to commemorate the (almost) 150th anniversary of the beginning of the war. This picture was taken sometime between April and June of 1865 looking across the old canal basin.

Photo courtesy of The Library of Congress

Richmond Jobbing House - January 1970

Of all the pictures I've found through doing this blog, this has to be one of the most random, and one of my favorites. I present to you The Richmond Jobbing House, from January of 1970. If you're like me you're wondering: What exactly is a jobbing house? According to Wikipedia: "A jobbing house is a type of wholesale merchant business that buys goods and bulk products from importers, other wholesalers, or manufacturers, and then sells to retailers."

One question I have about this building is: Why is it for sale from four different realtors? I think this building's location was 1324 East Cary Street (across the street from Siné Irish Pub in Shockoe Slip), now occupied by a parking lot, like many other former Richmond buildings.

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries