RICHMOND- The Valentine is excited to announce the 2023 Richmond History Tour season! Attendees will explore neighborhoods and historic sites across Richmond, learning little-known stories that have shaped our community. For 23 years, the Valentine’s expert guides have helped residents and visitors learn about important historic sites, discover off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods, and engage with diverse stories that define Richmond.
“The Valentine is offering a great lineup of tours this season,” says Director, Bill Martin, “New walking tours and the return of our well-known bus tours provide great opportunities to learn new stories. There is no better way to experience Richmond’s history.”
The public season kicks off on Saturday, April 8th from 10:00 – 11:30 am, with our Court End Walking Tour. Attendees will learn about one of Richmond’s oldest neighborhoods, Court End, and explore the incredible story of the 1811 Richmond Theater Fire which is brought to life in local author Rachel Beanland’s new work of historical fiction, “The House is on Fire.”
Walking tours are scheduled for Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays between April and October.
The walking tours offered in 2023 include:
• Origin Stories: Court End
• Murals of Jackson Ward
• Highlights of Hollywood Cemetery
• History of Church Hill
• Figures of Freedom (Shockoe Bottom & Downtown)
• Ballot Battle: Richmond Suffrage (Downtown)
• Barton Heights: Northside
• Shockoe Hill Cemeteries
• Manchester (starting in Summer)
• Scotts Addition (starting in Summer)
• Carytown (starting in Summer)
• Monument Avenue: Origins and Reverberations Augmented Reality (starting in
Summer)
This year, we are thrilled about the return of the program’s popular Richmond city bus tours, expanding both the stories we can tell and the accessibility of tours. The season’s
first bus tour will explore historic cemeteries of Richmond on Memorial Day.
Valentine Members also receive access to Director’s Tours, the first of which will feature the Scott’s Addition neighborhood, led by Valentine Director Bill Martin. The full tour schedule can be found at https://thevalentine.org/events/.
Walking tours are $20 for adults, $10 for Valentine Members and free for children under 18. Bus tours are $50 for non-members, $40 for Valentine Members. Private groups and self-guided tours are also available through The Valentine’s website.
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About the Valentine
The Valentine has been collecting, preserving and interpreting Richmond’s 400-year history for over a century. Located in the heart of historic downtown, the Valentine is a place for residents and tourists to discover the diverse stories that tell the broader history of this important region. Located in Shockoe Slip at the site where the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was signed in 1786, the Valentine First Freedom Center is dedicated to exploring the past, present and future of religious freedom in America.