Nomination Form
On a commanding bluff overlooking the bottomlands of the James River, with a panoramic view of the Richmond skyline to the west, the imposing frame house at Tree Hill, with its surrounding outbuildings, was the home of two prominent Henrico County families, the Seldens and the Roanes. The original portion of the much-evolved and enlarged structure was erected in the late 18th century by Miles Selden, the Henrico County clerk and a local politician. During Selden’s tenure, Tree Hill was known for its racetrack; the Marquis de Lafayette attended a well-publicized horse race here in 1824. The eastern Henrico County property passed to Selden’s son-in-law William Roane, a U.S. congressman and senator. At Tree Hill on April 3, 1865 Richmond mayor Joseph Mayo surrendered the Confederate capital to Maj. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel, commander of the Union army in front of Richmond. The Tree Hill plantation maintains a scenic rural edge for the east end of the city of Richmond.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia
