Jeff Ruggles guest-posts over at The Shockoe Examiner on the origin of the Shockoe in Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom:

It is plausible that the Powhatan called such dams “stone-things” or shacquohocan. In time, what began as a word for stone dams could have comeinto use as a place name for the part of the river the dams occupied, and then for the banks adjacent, where the Indians might have had a temporary encampment. [...] It was there that the English, when they journeyed up the river in their boats, could proceed no farther, and so it became a place significant to the English as well. The same place on the river was known to the Powhatan and the English for different reasons—the English as the head of navigation, and the Powhatan as a place for fishing. The English heard the Powhatan name for this place and adopted it. They abbreviated it, attached it to a nearby creek, and eventually it became the name for their settlement on the north bank of the river.

Read more >

Read more >

Drop a line through the Craigslist info if this is your dog:

found pit bull. young white and brown. sweet. knows how to sit. contact by e-mail if you think its yours tell what it’s collar looks like

Virginia Blood Services will be holding a blood drive at Baskervill on Tuesday from 8:30AM-12:30PM (101 South 15th Street) to help make up for drives canceled due to snow.

Fountain Bookstore is offering free lobsters today only:

While they last, the Fountain is giving away free lobsters to good homes. They make lovely pets and have been housetrained. We have also taught them to read up to a 1st grade level, so please remember to pick up some books for their entertainment on your way out.

Style Weekly has the details on plans for the Freedom Center @ 14th and Cary Streets:

Plans call for an exhibit space and a curved monument facing the corner. Literature for the project says the facility will bring together “two Marriott brand hotels,” but officials with the nonprofit wouldn’t offer details. Sources say it’s likely one of the hotels would be an extended-stay facility, typically designed for business travelers.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2009, with the hotels opening in late 2010. First Freedom is finalizing an agreement with Apple REIT Cos., a local real estate investment trust, which is developing the hotels, says Sharon Durham, the center’s chief financial officer.

The Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (ACORN) has moved to a new home across the cobblestones to 104 Shockoe Slip. They’ve also put the call out for 2008 Golden Hammer nominees. If you know of an outstanding renovation in the city of Richmond (one that has been or will be completed between the dates of 8/17/07 and 8/15/08)– tell’em about it and help recognize the “good work of those dedicated to restoring vitality to our oldest neighborhoods”.

The 10 year run of the Shockoe Poets 2nd&4th Sundays open mic @ Shockoe Espresso has come to an end:

Apparently, the parent company Mill Mountain ( anything to do with the theater?) had some sort of problem somewhere and somebody screwed it up for the rest of us and the order is out for NO MORE ENTERTAINMENT at their establishments.

Richmond Business & Commercial News reminded us about Walk Score, a site that “calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc.”, part of an effort to recognize the benefits to our health, the environment, and our communities of living in walkable neighborhoods. This site puts a number on how easy it is to go day-to-day without relying in a car in Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom, and Tobacco Row; Manchester is still a little ways out.

Sounding a lot like Tobacco Avenue, Style Weekly is reporting that Buck Ward, a Midlothian businessman, will be opening a Segway dealership next month in Shockoe Slip.

A beggarly account of empty boxes visits Kobe and comes away underwhelmed, describing the experience at the Japanese steakhouse as “satisfactory, but nothing particularly special”.

Style’s Halls of Kelly on the The Fountain Bookstore‘s new owner Kelly Justice: “The Fountain Bookstore, started by Joyce Clay in 1978, specialized in corporate and technical books until the Smythes bought it in 1985. In 2000, the Smythes hired Justice to bring the bookstore into not just the regional but also the national arena. Justice has been inching toward that goal ever since.”

The listing of National & State Historic Registers for Richmond includes information about the Shockoe Valley and Tobacco Row Historic District (PDF), Shockoe Slip Mason’s Hall (PDF), the Manchester Industrial Historic District, the Manchester Residential and Commercial Historic District (PDF), Southern Stoveworks (Manchester), and even Belle Isle (PDF).

Read more >

West of the Boulevard caught that last Sunday’s Washington Post “Road Trip” featured Cary Street from Carytown to the Slip (PDF), with a nod to Richbrau and the Tobacco Company.

Not conceding the macaroni and cheese crown to LuLu’s, Granny Wade’s has opened up at 1316 East Cary Street and features Southern home-style cooking such as meatloaf, chicken&dumplings, and macaroni&cheese. Lunch Monday-Friday and dinner Thursay-Saturday. [via]