RICHMOND, the capital of Virginia, on the left bank of the James river, at the heat), of tide-water, 150 in. from its mouth; lat. 37° 32' 17" n., long. 77° 27' 28" w.; 100 m. s. of Washington; picturesquely situated on the Richmond and Shockoe hills, on the lower falls of the .James river, and regularly laid out and built, and surrounded with beautiful scenery. The capitol is a stately building in the center of a park of 8 acres, the grounds of which are ornamented with trees and statuary. There are also handsome state and county edifices, penitentiary, theater, orphan asylum. 50 churches, 3 colleges, 7 daily and 14 other newspapers, several cotton and tobacco factories, extensive flouring-mills, forges, furnaces. and machine-shops. Tobacco and flour are the principal articles of export from Richmond. Vessels drawing 10 ft. can come within a mile of the center of the city; those of 15 ft. to 3 in. below. A canal round the falls gives a river naviga
tion 200 in. farther, and a canal and several railways connect it with the great network of southern railways. Richmond was founded in 1742. In 1811 the burning of a theater destroyed the lives of 70 persons, including the governor of the state. In June, 1861, it was selected as the confederate capital, and from that period was the objective point of a series of formidable military expeditions for its capture, under generals McDowell, McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade. and Grant, and defended by gcn. Lee with a large army and formidable lines of fortifications, until the seizure of the lines of supply by generals Grant and Sheridan compelled its evacuation after a series of sanguinary battles, April 3, 1865. A considerable portion of the city was destroyed by the retreating confederates. Pop. '60, 37,910; '70, 51,038.