Reflecting on Richmond’s Journey in the 1970s through Historic Photos

The public opening featured a performance by rock band Single Bullet Theory and refreshments that could be found at sporting events, such as popcorn and cotton candy. The portraits on exhibit included tennis star Chris Evert and basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Neighborhood boys showed off their headstand and skateboarding skills. From left were Robert Rice, Bill Robertson, Rusty Hamilton and Kenny Rice. The boys spent the summer practicing headstands, wheelies and other stunts.

The gravel-like treat offered the sensation of bursting inside the mouth – a reaction created from carbon dioxide trapped inside the sugar. Test-marketing in California proved successful, and the candy from General Foods soon became a national rage.

The station hosted its first passenger train in 1881 and its last in 1957; it limped along until 1979 handling odd jobs. CSX dismantled the building in 1993.

The $7 million, 17-story attraction contained three components: the Journey to Atlantis flume ride (soon renamed the Haunted River), the Land of the Dooz children’s mine train and the Time Shaft rotor. In 1998, the mountain was repurposed to accommodate Volcano, the Blast Coaster, which still operates today.

The festival, sponsored by the Monument Avenue Preservation Society, included dancers, almost 30 art exhibits, children’s entertainment and food.

The $4 million dollar city-financed plaza linked the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond building and the Virginia Electric and Power Co. building.

Depending on the temperature and wind, Barden could use 60 to 120 pounds of charcoal scattered with hickory chips for his barbecuing. An 80-pound pig, which he marinated in homemade sauce, could take eight hours or more to cook.

The driver, 25-year-old Samuel Smith, was thrown from the truck and fell 100 feet. A firefighter said Smith survived because he landed about 40 feet from the water on muddy ground, which softened the impact.

It was the first such helipad constructed for a central Virginia hospital. The $5,000 pad was constructed by E.G. Bowles Co. in a project assisted by the state police and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Children agest 4 through 8 may take one of three classes that are taught for an hour each day for one week. New classes start each Monday through August. Applications for registration should be made with the Henrico County Police. 6-17-1978

Owner John Dankos plans to open the new restaurant, Stanley Stegmeyer's Hodgepodge, on July 1. Part of the decor will include two cabooses, each of which will seat 16 persons. May 3, 1978

In the late 1970s, the historic Richmond enclave was undergoing noticeable change as urbanization brought new, younger residents into the tight-knit community.

The clinic, sponsored by Fashion Fair, brought in beauty professionals including Pearl Hester (standing at right) to demonstrate makeup techniques.

Owner Joe Warren of South Hill used seven mule teams to plow 60 tobacco acres among several of his farms.

Financed by a federal grant, the series shed light on school desegregation across America, with students contributing scripts for scenes. The Huguenot segment was titled “The Riot that Never Was” and included a re-enactment of a tense moment in the cafeteria during the previous school year, which ultimately was resolved.

Such biplanes carried mail through the area in the 1920s and 1930s for Pitcairn Aviation Inc., a predecessor of Eastern Air Lines. Meade was flying from New York to Miami on a trip sponsored by Eastern to promote its 50th anniversary.

At the time, products such as Simon and Electronic Battleship were so new that not all Richmond-area stores carried them yet. Thalhimers did not stock electronic games, and Miller & Rhoads had just received Blip and Comp IV, which were battery-operated games.

The city festival, held at the Carillon in Byrd Park, featured more than 30 performers as well as demonstrations of folk crafts such as banjo making, fly-tying and rug-braiding.

The service – sponsored by the local Taking Care of Business Fan Club – included a meditation period that featured some of Presley’s gospel recordings, which brought an emotional response from fans.

Richmonder John Tighe created it to surprise fellow members of a Richmond boating group that was gathering for its annual fish fry. The sculpture mimicked a giant serpentlike creature – later nicknamed “Chessie” – that some people claim to have spotted nearby that summer.

McCabe said the jeans were a bit stiff, but with a leotard or tights underneath, they could turn heads at the disco. Penney stores in Richmond carried the pants, which were originated by La Parisienne.

The movie, starring George Segal (in boat) as a ride inspector, was filmed at several amusement parks and is about an extortionist who demands $1 million to end his bombing campaign at parks. Extras and crew assembled at 7 a.m., but it was 2:15 p.m. before everything was ready so this scene could be shot.

The dining car, which allowed guests to experience the 1890s, featured a working player piano, a 6-foot bar, plush chairs, ornate light fixtures and tasseled curtains.

The organization hoped to beautify the city with landscaping projects in parks as well as offer lawn care assistance to senior citizens and the disabled.

The race concluded across the river at Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County. Rafters were awarded prizes for speed, design originality and amount of money raised through pledges.

Sponsored by the Wakefield Ruritan Club, the event historically was a function of the state’s Democrats, but it evolved into a bipartisan tradition.

A large machine called a fragmentizer could chew up a car and spit it out as tiny chunks of metal in about 40 seconds.

The living room featured Tillie’s numerous trophies and memorabilia – at the time, she held titles as an American conformation champion and Canadian conformation champion, among other honors.

The $2 million pedestrian mall opened in 1976 and, as it marks 40 years in 2016, is home to more than 150 shops and restaurants.

He conservatively valued the trove at $5,000. Roller held two of his prized pieces: a 1934 Old Milwaukee can and a gallon can/dispenser of Gettelman.

At the time, the store, which dated to 1926, was feeling the strain of competition from larger stores downtown and because longtime residents were moving away. The store closed in 1993.

Willis could handle thousands of pounds of meat for customers every week, and his service was so popular at the time, it might take six months for him to squeeze a new customer into his schedule.

That year, a new claimant on the title led to the discovery of the house’s historical significance. The 1½-story frame and brick dwelling was estimated to have been built in the 1760s and served as a private home as well as a hospital during the Civil War. The home is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The fragmentizer was in Richmond’s Deepwater Terminal area and was used by Peck Iron and Metal Co. Inc. to crush vehicles into fine chunks of metal. Peck Iron estimated that the fragmentizer “ate” about 100,000 autos during the previous year.

From left are Frank Early, Betty Ward, G.A. Hamilton, Hilda Thompson, LaNae Johnson, Bessie Shade and Douglas Vaughan. Hundreds of former county students from the era attended the reunion.

The celebration, sponsored by the Shockoe Slip Neighborhood Association, included an auction and a costume contest. About 10,000 people attended the event.

Dixon found fame though her syndicated astrology column and some well-publicized predictions, including about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. She died in 1997.

The nine-hole course was constructed by prison maintenance workers to encourage activity by inmates. The center was founded in 1931 when female inmate populations were getting too large for local jails. It was known for its groundbreaking programs, including its self-sufficient farming program in the 1940s.

The national chain offered exercise spaces for men and women, massages, facials, steam baths, weight loss programs, whirlpools and solariums.

McKeon managed the team for one year, leaving in 1977 to become manger of Oakland Athletics. In 2003, at age 72, he won a World Series as manager of the Florida Marlins.

Once there, more visitors waiting back at the shore would use the pulley to return the flat-bottom barge so they could then board it and pull themselves over to the island as well.

The distinct timepiece with four faces was installed in the department store in the mid-1920s; it can be seen today at the Valentine Richmond History Center.

At that time, a new investor group was studying the feasibility of renovating the property, which was built by Lewis Ginter and opened in 1895. Today it is in select company as a five-star hotel.

The National Historic Landmark District, which became the center of the city’s African-American community after the Civil War, has experienced significant revitalization in recent years.

The theme park opened with 15 attractions; its Lion Country Safari area had opened a year before. Today, the park offers more than 60 rides, shows and attractions as well as a water park.

At the time, police were aiming to clear up a public misunderstanding about a new Virginia law on motorized bikes, which said any bicycle with an assisting motor could not exceed 20 mph.

The theme park fully opened the previous month with 15 attractions; its Lion Country Safari area had opened in 1974. Today, the park offers more than 60 rides, shows and attractions as well as a water park.

While the building was best known for its theater, over time it housed an array of other features, including a rooftop penthouse, swimming pool, gymnasium, ballroom and bowling alley.

A year earlier, he checked out – and refused to return – some volumes that were signed by their authors, saying the works (including by Robert Frost) deserved better protection than the open shelves. But he did return them and, with funding from an anonymous donor, participated in a project to get contemporary poets to sign copies of their work for inclusion in the library’s collection.

The governor and Anheuser-Busch executives took part in dedication of park, which had opened to the public the previous weekend and drew more than 30,000 visitors.

The Pass opened in 1975 and was in business for about four years. In its short time, notable artists performed there, including John Mayall, Stanley Turrentine, Lydia Pense, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Earl Scruggs, Nicolette Larsen and Robert Palmer.

Benatar moved to Richmond two years earlier at age 20; she met pianist Phil Coxon during a gig at the Roaring Twenties, and what started as a duo evolved into a larger band. In leaving Richmond, Benatar planned to try her vocal luck in New York.

About 1,700 square yards of the creek bed was being covered with stone cemented into place. The $107,000 project, which aimed to channel the creek water to reduce flooding and erosion, was part of a larger $1.5 million creek improvement project. The next phase was to build bridges over the creek at Forest Hill Avenue and at Roanoke Street.

According to the Science Museum of Virginia, it was not uncommon to have two eclipses within six months. This composite image merged photos of the eclipse with a skyline shot from South Richmond.

The spot along the Chickahominy River was where Captain John Smith, the English explorer, once recorded a thriving Native American community, Moysonec, in 1607. The dig was funded by a state grant and a donation from the landowner.

The program, which taught popular and traditional dances such as the waltz, tango, jitterbug and twist, was open to middle and high school students. Town and Country, which had 500 youths across four groups, was among a handful of cotillions in the Richmond area at the time.

Rast, who was director of the music education department at Northern Illinois University, was in Richmond to share group instructional techniques with teachers from elementary to college levels. The session drew teachers from as far away as Colorado and Michigan and was sponsored by UR’s music department and the Wurlitzer Co.

In the early 1950s, the Boy Scouts of America erected about 200 mini-versions of the Statue of Liberty around the country as part of the organization’s 40th anniversary. The 8½-foot tall, 290-pound copper statues were made in Chicago by Friedley-Voshardt Co. The Richmond statue was erected on Feb. 11, 1951, and rose nearly 17 feet, including the base. The project’s total cost was about $1,000.

At left, the building closest to completion was the Thalhimers department store; other initial anchors included Miller & Rhoads, JC Penney and Sears. The 800,000-square-foot complex was to be the largest shopping center in the area; it opened in October of that year.

Two tanks holding a combined 850,000 gallons of fuel exploded at the business on Commerce Road. Fire officials believed that the ignition of an employee’s car sparked the blaze, though the oil company speculated that a lightning strike was to blame. The fire took 19 hours to extinguish.

The Eiffel Tower at the amusement park, which would open the following year, is in the background.

The Shriners fraternal organization built the Moorish Revival theater, with its distinctive minarets, in the 1920s.

Paradise Park (pictured, between the 1700 blocks of Floyd and Grove avenues) and Scuffletown Park (between the 2300 blocks of Park and Stuart avenues) were built with money from the U.S. Interior Department.

The work, by Jack Clifton of Hampton (front), was presented by the Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution; it commissioned the painting in cooperation with the Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission. Assisting Godwin with the unveiling were state Sen. Edward E. Willey Sr. of Richmond and DAR official Mrs. John S. Biscoe.

The synagogue, which was on Three Chopt Road in Henrico County, later merged with Temple Beth-El in Richmond.

Locally, the Lafayette Westwood Pharmacy on Patterson Avenue and the Sunset Hills Pharmacy on Three Chopt Road had recently removed their fountains, which was happening with greater frequency nationwide, too. Pharmacists said the fountains were expensive to operate and difficult to staff, and that they were no longer as necessary for bringing in traffic.

At the time, the proprietors estimated that $5 million to $10 million worth of merchandise passed through the market annually. The business later moved to Northern Virginia’s McLean area.

The protestors, who wanted unrestricted visitation, marched to the women’s dorms at Westhampton College during the evening, and then female participants visited the male dorms.

The popular band had split in 1970 but reunited for a summer tour in 1974 that hit large arenas and outdoor stadiums. The “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan adorns the front of the stage, and the concert opened with the Stephen Stills-penned hit “Love the One You’re With.”

The deteriorating dam concerned county officials; club members said the repair estimate of about $109,000 exceeded their budget.

The day before, a drug arrest in the stands touched off violence between police and festival-goers, which scuttled the festival’s second day.

The two-day event ended a day early after a drug arrest in the stands led to violence between police and festival-goers. An estimated 14,000 showed up for the first day of the festival.

Teletype terminals were going to be in place in 22 area middle and high schools at the beginning of the upcoming school year, and students could dial in to a Hewlett-Packard 2000F computer to work on math activities and other subjects.

Attendance at the 10-day event at the fairgrounds in Henrico County approached 475,000 that year.

The 65th annual fair attracted more than 162,000 visitors. But in 1977, officials announced that the fair would cease operations after experiencing drops in attendance, livestock exhibitors and revenue.

An accompanying article said the store’s biggest attraction was the penny candy counter – and some of the busiest times were after school, when children streamed in the after getting off the bus.

The previous year’s flooding had deposited a great amount of silt, so Atkerson Dredging Co. would be busy. The project, which usually took a week, was expected to require more than a month.

It was designed to resemble a 1920s speakeasy, with features including an antique cash register, a diving girl and even a dining table from Al Capone’s Florida home.

During a roof repainting project several years earlier, the family got creative, adding floral designs that in once case reached 10 feet in diameter. One offshoot: Every year, some new Hampden-Sydney College students would come by thinking the home was a counterculture haven.

The factory opened in 1973 and could produce up to 200 million cigarettes per day at the time.

The dance group, which started in 1973 with a donation from VCU, aims to preserve African culture and history in Richmond.

The competition, which brought 100 riders and 175 animals to Richmond from all over the country, was held at the Coliseum. Riders competed for about $12,000 in prize money and championship points in the International Rodeo Association.

A combination of city and federal dollars funded the nearly $150,000 park, as well as a second one being developed in the area. Carlton Abbott, an architect from Williamsburg, designed the parks.

A day after the Pekingese had given birth to five puppies, she brought the bone to her Henrico County owners, who were astounded by the “sculpture.” The owners planned to mount the work on a plaque and hang it on their wall as “Panda’s Masterpiece.”

The hospital, with roots dating to 1917, is a predecessor of today’s Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. Gilbreath played for the Atlanta Braves for several seasons in the 1970s and had a long career in other roles with the organization.

Summerlin, 24, said she chose her job with the Orkin Co. as an alternative to office work. One of few women in the field, she made about a dozen service calls daily, crawling into basements and attics to combat rats and roaches.

More than 1,700 people paid $20 apiece to see a Poitier movie and enjoy a Cosby comedy routine. The event coincided with VUU's homecoming, which Poitier also attended.

The youth psychiatric facility, one of 10 original child guidance clinics in the United States, was formed in 1924 to help families who could not afford care. In 1971 it suspended operations because of staffing problems, then reopened in 1972 on Church Hill with a new focus on outreach. The organization is known today as ChildSavers.

Ellington wore the cowboy hat to shade him from the sun. The event attracted a crowd of about 10,000. (Tickets cost $2 plus four blue Nolde bags, or $4 and buyers received coupons redeemable for four bags of Nolde bread.)

Conrad Dandridge, metal shop teacher at Armstrong High School, showed off a sporty look, though teachers increasingly were beginning to dress less formally, with women in pantsuits and men in sweaters and slacks – attire that students themselves were wearing.

At the time, there was debate because many of Richmond’s school buildings were old, and their designs were hampering new methods of teaching. Highland Park, built in 1909, accommodated students through the end of 1977. The Mediterranean Revival building, designed by Charles Robinson, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, just as it was being converted into a senior apartment complex. It stands empty today.

The event was sponsored by the museum’s Junior Center and drew 675 youngsters and adults. Ashe, who had just returned from a trip to Africa, answered questions and demonstrated principles of the game.

The Spirit of '76 was set to travel throughout the nation to remind people of America’s upcoming bicentennial celebration.

That summer, the juvenile division of the Richmond Bureau of Police held a drive at 35 city schools to promote bicycle registration, which aimed to protect owners from theft, accidents or loss.

The festival, which ran in Richmond from 1949 to 1984, was a top event in the city during its run and included an array of activities, including dinners, balls, beauty contests, football games and a parade. The queen was selected from a group of crowned tobacco princesses who arrived in Richmond from all over the East Coast.

The three-day event was held at Roy McCraw’s Bluegrass Grove farm in Amelia County and featured bluegrass and folk bands from around the Mid-Atlantic. Other Virginia acts included the Blue Mountain Boys, the Roanoke Valley Boys and the Dixie Hillbillies.

The two decided independently to become nurses, and their paths crossed in 1971 when they were students at Norfolk General Hospital. By October 1972, they were married and transferred to Petersburg General.

The railroad-themed camp, on a peninsula on Lake Gaston in Littleton, N.C., is still run by Youth Camps for Christ Inc. The “depot,” or dining hall, which was modeled after an 1890 train depot and was built from plans furnished by the Southern Railway Co., was the focal point of activities.

On another side, the monument included an inscription from Ryland Randolph citing 1772 and memorializing his parents.

Equipment was being auctioned in the four-story building after the company stopped operating in 1970. Dairymen J.O. Scott, A.L. Scott and T.L. Blanton started the company in 1890, and the 1914 building was designed by the architecture firm Carneal & Johnston. Today the building contains rental apartments.

Ancarrow, a crusader for cleaning the river, had started studying and photographing wildflowers five years earlier, seeing them as a tool to tell the story of pollution’s threat to the James. Passion and hobby intersected, and he had made more than 35,000 color slides of local wildflowers.

Residents of the recently annexed Broad Rock area were protesting the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s proposal for low-rent public housing in the area.

The previous year, the service instituted a program allowing use of volunteers for interpretive and other services. Heatwole had established a library at the park; Crandall, also an experienced volunteer, had recently become a paid employee.

The babies, two girls and two boys, were reportedly the first quadruplets born in the state since 1966. At middle are Dr. Charles Moseley and nurse Edna Palmer.

The machines were the first ever in Henrico, and county authorities planned an extensive program to educate voters on using them. Pulling a handle would close the booth’s curtains, and voters set levers for their preferred candidates before using the handle again to record the votes and open the curtains.

Maybelle played autoharp, banjo and guitar, and her two-finger picking became a signature style. The famous musical family was from Southwest Virginia but lived in Richmond for several years in the 1940s.

The father and son, with the help of a friend, built the machine to process leaves into compost. Grove hoped to convince localities to use their machines on a larger scale each autumn, and Montgomery County in Maryland became a client.

The three women had worked as waitresses, secretaries, factory workers and department store clerks, but none of those jobs, they said, was as satisfying as driving a truck. The project they were working on at the time was an expansion of U.S. Route 17.

The course challenged students to use crude implements or primitive tools to learn how to build shelter and make rope, fire, pottery and weaving like early humans. Callahan was a graduate student in VCU’s art department.

Attendance at the weeklong event was running ahead of 1969's record 160,000. But in 1977, officials announced that the Petersburg-based fair, Virginia’s second-largest, would cease operations after experiencing drops in attendance, livestock exhibitors and revenue.

Amid controversy, about 13,000 RPS students were bused to different schools under a federal court order to help achieve integration.

Powell was the organist for the Richmond Braves baseball team from 1964 to 1971. He made special efforts to get to know all the players and come up with a special melody to suit them.

Attendance at the weeklong event was running ahead of 1969’s record 160,000. But in 1977, officials announced that the Petersburg-based fair, Virginia’s second-largest, would cease operations after experiencing drops in attendance, livestock exhibitors and revenue.

Robert Hodges (left) and Leonard Shifflett (right) drove in from Amelia County each weekday morning , and Fred Hubbard (center) from eastern Henrico County would join them.

The facility near Brook Road and Chamberlayne Avenue included eight stalls, a scrub area, a horseshoeing area and a tack room. The bureau had been looking for an established home for its horses since the mid-1960s, when the Virginia National Guard moved from the Richmond Howitzers downtown armory, where the horses had been stabled for two decades.

The facility was on the airport terminal’s first floor, and its upper levels had glass walls overlooking the ramp area. A more casual snack bar was on the first level.

The “circolectric bed” was developed for patients with spinal cord injuries – it kept them immobilized after procedures and allowed gradual position changes to help acclimate the body with less stress on the nervous system.

The NASA experiment was testing breathing environments as part of the Skylab program, which later featured an orbiting space station that was visited by astronauts.

The system allowed Erskine to make reservations within minutes at any facility connected with the network.

Holton was the state’s first Republican governor of the 20th century. His daughter, Anne, served as state secretary of education from 2014 to 2016, and his son-in-law is U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine.

The owners said the four-bedroom home, made of plywood, was practical for the beach and could withstand ocean winds.

The owners said the four-bedroom home, made of plywood, was practical for the beach and could withstand ocean winds.

City officials had taken measures to accommodate stranded passengers and take care of perishable items. The walkout, which centered on wages and work rules, was short-lived: Within a day, workers were returning after a federal judge threatened hefty fines again a key union.

The market, open 24 hours, included a series of smaller specialized stores – in addition to Pizza Castle, options included The Patio for prepared meals, The Marketplace for international foods and wines, and the Candy Circus with sweet treats. The Norfolk-based supermarket chain (no relation to the Giant chain in the Washington area) merged with Farm Fresh Inc. in the mid-1980s.

Rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Becky had spread across the state during the day.

The distillery, founded in 1934, later moved to Spotsylvania County.

The station was the second of four permanent fire facilities planned for the area that Richmond had annexed from Chesterfield County in 1970.

The orchestra’s new director that season was L. Frederick “Fritz” Maraffie, who taught at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Graves, who had a degree in animal husbandry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, owned two of the biggest worm ranches in the United States: Hill Grove Worm Ranch in Virginia and Alamance Worm Ranch in North Carolina. Graves got into worm farming after seeing a magazine ad that touted $10,000 in annual profit from raising worms. While smaller farms might produce around 1,000 worms per year, one of Graves’ facilities could produce around 2 million.

Gerard McCabe, VCU’s director of libraries, conferred with special collections librarian Vesta Gordon in the Cabell Room, a Victorian-style study that held the late author’s roughly 3,500-volume collection. The room remains part of VCU’s renovated library today.

Funding for a WICS orientation program and job placement for trainees were concerns. In the preceding four years, Virginia WICS had recruited more than 400 women ages 16 to 21 for Job Corps training.

The 35-acre pond drained, resulting in the death of several hundred fish. One theory was that muskrats weakened the dam by boring into it.

Cross was captured two months later after attempting to free a fellow convict who was being treated at Medical College of Virginia Hospital.

The next year, the park installed a monorail that guests used instead of driving their cars among the several hundred animals, which included lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes and other jungle dwellers. Here, the first visitors paid their admission fee. From left are driver Ken Lion, Lora Becraft and Larry and Mary Tropea.