Monuments on the Avenue

In this installment of "My Richmond Neighborhood Wanderings", I bring you Monuments from Monument Ave. This is only street in the country that is a National Historical Landmark and it's a part of my neighborhood. I don't know that I'll ever get tired of walking it and admiring the houses.

I also want to give the caveat that I didn't get pictures of the Maury and Arthur Ashe monuments. I will do another post with them another time. The evening I took these, I was competing with a setting sun and the two I missed are farther away.

The Robert E. Lee Monument - First to be built (1890). The neighborhood began to grow out from it along the avenue. Lee was, of course, the General of the Army of Northern Virginia and the South's main hero during the Civil War. A West Point grad and accomplished soldier, he turned down offers from the Federal Government to head it's forces because he couldn't raise sword or rifle against his own family and lands of Virginia. I tried to include the trees so you could get an idea of the scale and size of these pieces, although the trees are about 30-40 yards behind the monument.


J.E.B. Stuart Monument - 2nd one erected and the furthest east. I love the evening light cast on the Churches in the background. This is actually the back of the statue. I liked the scenery better this way. Stuart led a cavalry division for the Confederacy and did a lot of intelligence work and sabotage of Northern supply routes.Incidentally, I've been wanting to learn more about JEB since moving here. Not only was he my age when he died, but the place of his death is about 50 feet away from our Church building. I'm feeling a new bond (not a dismal one.. just that I'm more aware of him)



Jefferson Davis Monument - This was the 3rd finished and is directly in front of the Virginia Center for Architecture. This is a closer shot, but the whole monument is semi-circular with a tall column in the middle. It goes without saying, but Davis was the "President" of the Confederacy.

Stonewall Jackson Monument - 4th to be completed and the most major intersection of the 6 total monuments. Jackson is novelly famous for having his arm buried apart from the rest of him. He is also one I'd like to learn more about. He was highly religious, opposed to slavery, a brillant strategist, wonderful familyman and revered by his troops. I will always think of A.T. when I think of Jackson. I'm glad we got to see what's left of the packet boat that carried his body from Richmond to Lexington in Lynchburg together.

I also feel I need to state that, were I alive during the 1860's, I'm sure I would have sided with the Union. I'm not a Southern apologist and I believe things ended the way they were supposed to. But, I also think there are some neat personalities coming out of the Civil War, and it's hard not to get caught up in it living here. I love history!