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1956 Map of Richmond

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Richmond
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1959
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1959

About this map

The James River and its rocky islands, including Belle Isle, anchor this mid-century portrait of Virginia’s capital during a period of significant infrastructural change. The 1958 addition of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike is clearly visible, slicing through the urban grid and shifting the city's transport logic away from the legacy rail lines of the Southern Railway and Seaboard Air Line Railroad. Beyond the commercial core, the map detail extends to the residential and institutional character of neighborhoods like Ginter Park and Windsor Farms.

Genealogists and local historians can locate prominent landmarks such as the Union Theological Seminary and Virginia Union University, alongside the city's expansive burial grounds including Hollywood Cemetery and Oakwood Cemetery. The map also documents the cultural footprint of the era, from The Mosque downtown to the Atlantic Rural Exposition Grounds and the sprawling green space of Joseph Bryan Park in the north.