John Woodward, captain of the sloop Rachell and other ships operating out of the nearby port of Rocketts, occupied this wood-frame Richmond city dwelling in the first two decades of the 19th century. The Woodward House is the only remaining building of the dockside neighborhood on the east side of the city, where ship captains and sailors, harbormasters and tobacco inspectors, tavern keepers and draymen, and assorted craftsmen and laborers once lived and worked. Much evolved and enlarged over the years, the house began before 1780 as a modest one-room cottage. Its present appearance was achieved by 1829 when the front two-and-a-half-story portion was added. Captain Woodward’s house was spared a proposed demolition in 1974 and acquired by the Historic Richmond Foundation. It has since been sold and restored as a private residence.
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