Jun 19, 1974
National Register of Historic Places - John Woodward House
Statement of Significant: John Woodward, Captain of the Sloop Rachell, and other craft operating from "Rocketts," lived in this house at the corner of Williamsburg Avenue and 31st street (then Bloody Run and Elm Streets) during the first two decades of the nineteenth century. His livelihood, like that of his neighbors, depended on the maritime and trade-related crafts of what was then a vibrant residential and business community lying on both sides of Gilley's Creek at the foot of Chimbarazo Hill. This section (now a part of the area known as Fulton) derived its name from the Rockett family, several of whose members were associated with the early history of the region. The Woodward House, a portion of which may be the "old house" re- ferred to in the lease of August 13, 1784 entered into by Charles and Susannah Lewis and John Roper, is one of the City's oldest surviving structures. It remains the last significant structure commemorating a truly cosmopolitan section of old Richmond: the neighborhood of Rocketts, where ship captains and sailors, harbor masters and tobacco inspectors, tavern keepers and draymen, and assorted craftsmen and laborers lived and worked during Richmond's first century. Rocketts--- described alternately as being the port, a suburb or section of, Richmond --- bore an amorphous legal relationship with the city until a series of laws and ordinances adopted 1798-1808 strictly defined it as a part of Richmond, and caused its streets to be connected with those of the area of the capital to the west of Shockoe Valley. At no time before, or for many years following the turn of the century, was its importance to the economy of Richmond and environs in doubt. Trans-Atlantic cargoes were being handled at Rocketts by 1771, and the community was recognized as one of five James River ports by act of the General Assembly in 1788. Other legislation of the period established, and subsequently enlarged, an official tobacco warehouse and inspection station at Rocketts. Contemporary documents record a wide range of economic activities at Rocketts during the early years of the Republic. While tobacco and shipping were the most significant industries, there were in addition to the Rocketts (tobacco) Warehouse, several wharfs, and a ship- yard lumber, hemp, and auction houses; mills, a rope walk, and tavern; and even an illegal gambling establishment. At least seventeen vessels were launched by the Ralston-Pleasants yard (circa 1800-circa 1845), and a Confederate Navy Yard later was maintained here. Rocketts was also the location of a Confederate military camp, and had seen the passage of Simcoe's troops during an earlier war. sanguinary Indian engagement was fought in the vicinity during the latter seventeenth century (giving rise to the name "Bloody Run"). Rocketts.
National Register of Historic Places - John Woodward House
Statement of Significant: John Woodward, Captain of the Sloop Rachell, and other craft operating from "Rocketts," lived in this house at the corner of Williamsburg Avenue and 31st street (then Bloody Run and Elm Streets) during the first two decades of the nineteenth century. His livelihood, like that of his neighbors, depended on the maritime and trade-related crafts of what was then a vibrant residential and business community lying on both sides of Gilley's Creek at the foot of Chimbarazo Hill. This section (now a part of the area known as Fulton) derived its name from the Rockett family, several of whose members were associated with the early history of the region. The Woodward House, a portion of which may be the "old house" re- ferred to in the lease of August 13, 1784 entered into by Charles and Susannah Lewis and John Roper, is one of the City's oldest surviving structures. It remains the last significant structure commemorating a truly cosmopolitan section of old Richmond: the neighborhood of Rocketts, where ship captains and sailors, harbor masters and tobacco inspectors, tavern keepers and draymen, and assorted craftsmen and laborers lived and worked during Richmond's first century. Rocketts--- described alternately as being the port, a suburb or section of, Richmond --- bore an amorphous legal relationship with the city until a series of laws and ordinances adopted 1798-1808 strictly defined it as a part of Richmond, and caused its streets to be connected with those of the area of the capital to the west of Shockoe Valley. At no time before, or for many years following the turn of the century, was its importance to the economy of Richmond and environs in doubt. Trans-Atlantic cargoes were being handled at Rocketts by 1771, and the community was recognized as one of five James River ports by act of the General Assembly in 1788. Other legislation of the period established, and subsequently enlarged, an official tobacco warehouse and inspection station at Rocketts. Contemporary documents record a wide range of economic activities at Rocketts during the early years of the Republic. While tobacco and shipping were the most significant industries, there were in addition to the Rocketts (tobacco) Warehouse, several wharfs, and a ship- yard lumber, hemp, and auction houses; mills, a rope walk, and tavern; and even an illegal gambling establishment. At least seventeen vessels were launched by the Ralston-Pleasants yard (circa 1800-circa 1845), and a Confederate Navy Yard later was maintained here. Rocketts was also the location of a Confederate military camp, and had seen the passage of Simcoe's troops during an earlier war. sanguinary Indian engagement was fought in the vicinity during the latter seventeenth century (giving rise to the name "Bloody Run"). Rocketts.
Jun 19, 1974
Posted Date
Jul 14, 2023
Historical Record Date
Jun 19, 1974
Source Name
National Register of Historic Places
