Pump House Park is one of the lesser-known parks of the City of Richmond. Its namesake, the Pump House, was built in 1882 and designed by Colonel Wilfred E. Cutshaw, who also designed Old City Hall and Monroe Park.
In contrast to the more utilitarian modern style of public works facilities, the Pump House was designed in an ornate Gothic style and was intended to serve as more that just a water-pumping station. Its upper level was a dance hall used for upper-class social events, although, after a few decades it became more commonly frequented by middle-class Richmonders.
The Pump House became obsolete as a pumping station by the mid-1920s and after World War II, it fell out of use as a dance hall and was abandoned.
By the 1980s, the derelict Pump House had become a popular target for vandals, while the southern part of Byrd Park that surrounded it had also become severely neglected. During that decade, Dr. Bill Trout organized a volunteer effort to restore the Pump House, with the help of volunteers such as Chris Knoop and Lynn Lanier.
While Dr. Trout and his volunteers managed to stabilize the building and prevent its collapse, James River Parks System manager Ralph White noted that they had done so without obtaining the proper permits in advance.
According to White, city bureaucrats probably wouldn’t have agreed to grant them permits but, after the fact, engineers determined that the structure was sound thanks to the volunteers’ efforts. In the mid-1980s, Pump House Park was officially established and split off from Byrd Park.
Today, there are still ambitious plans to restore the Pump House to its former glory. White said that by next spring, the Pump House will have restroom facilities that will include a composted toilet and the building will be available for events such as weddings. More long-term plans involve spending $8-$9 million to glass in the Pump House and add a coffee shop and bookstore.
Pump House Park also includes a trail that extends for a short distance to the west and leads to what is known as Washington’s Arch. This arch was built in 1791 and marked the beginning of the James River and Kanawha Canal, the first canal in the United States. George Washington planned the canal and envisioned it extending all the way to the Kanawha River in what is now West Virginia.
However, due to the difficulty of digging canals through mountainous terrain and the fact that railroads were beginning to render canals obsolete, work on the Kanawha Canal ended in 1851 in Botetourt County, north of Roanoke. The other reason for the name Washington’s Arch is that shortly after the arch’s construction, George Washington sailed there for a lunch meeting with the Richmond City Council, but by the time the councilmen arrived, Washington had already eaten and left.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement