Byrd Park, also known as William Byrd Park, is a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, United States, north of the

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

and adjacent to Maymont. The park includes a mile-long trail with exercise stops, monuments, an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

, and three small lakes: Shields (sometimes spelled Sheilds), Swan, and Boat Lake. Boat Lake (also called Fountain Lake) has a lighted

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

at its center. Visitors can rent pedal boats there in season. The park includes

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s, Little League

baseball field A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refer ...

s, and a children's

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

. The historic round house and Poplar Vale

Cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

are also located in the park. It is named after William Byrd II, whose family owned much of the area when Richmond was founded in 1737. The park was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2016.

History

In 1873, the city of Richmond began the creation of a new municipal waterworks system, in order to replace an earlier one which had become insufficient for the growing city. In 1874, a site was chosen upriver to the west of the city, and from 1875 to 1888, the land was acquired and the reservoir constructed. The pit used for building up the earthen berms became what is now Fountain Lake, itself fed by the reservoir. In 1884, the New Pump-House was completed at the base of the hill, drawing water from the defunct

James River and Kanawha Canal The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for ...

and pumping it up to the reservoir. The large tract of parkland surrounding the reservoir was descriptively named New Reservoir Park, with the equally aptly named

Boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

serving to house the water main leading from the reservoir to the thoroughfare of Broad Street, simultaneously providing access to the park. By 1907, the park had been renamed William Byrd Park, and by 1914 plans had begun for the construction of two additional lakes: Shield's Lake and Swann Lake. The park's Statue of Christopher Columbus, erected in 1927, was controversial at the time of its construction because it honored

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

s in a climate of increasing anti-immigration sentiment. In 2020, during the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

, Columbus became controversial for a different reason: his killing of Native Americans and his initiation of the slave trade. On June 9, 2020, citizens toppled the statue after vandalizing it and then threw it into Fountain Lake. In 2016, the Richmond Police Memorial Research and Relocation Site Committee completed the relocation of the Richmond Police Memorial to Byrd Park. The memorial is an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of a police officer carrying a girl clutching a teddy bear, along with a plaque of the names of 28 Richmond police officers killed from 1869 to 2003. The memorial was moved from the park after being vandalized following the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

The Carillon

The

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Memorial

Carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

, built by Cram & Ferguson in 1932, is a memorial to the roughly 3,700 Virginians who died in that war; it contains 56

bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

s and is tall. The Carillon is played on occasions such as Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and July 4, and is also used for hosting wedding receptions, parties, meetings, and other such gatherings. The carillon was listed on the

in 1984.

Events

The

, Dogwood Dell, has annual summer

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

and theatrical events, including a concert by the Richmond Concert BandRichmond Concert Band
/ref> that concludes with the "1812 Overture", complete with cannon fire, the carillon, and a

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

display on the

4th of July Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

. Events and shows for children are frequently scheduled at the Ha'Penny Stage just beside the carillon. In May the park hosts an annual "Arts in the Park" festival, a festive two-day event in which over 400 artists and artisans display and sell their work. The park holds an annual Summer Festival of Arts in June through August which hosts plays, concerts, children events, and other family activities. The Summer Festival of the Arts celebrated its fiftieth season in 2006. The second Saturday in June brings out Richmond's annual "It Starts in Park Festival" which is designed to encourage healthy living and family fun for the summer months just as the school children are getting close to their

summer vacation The term summer vacation or summer break refers to a school break in the summer between school years and the break in the school academic year. Students are off anywhere between two weeks to three and a half months. Depending on the country and ...

s. The carillon is also home to the city's live Christmas Nativity pageant now held (weather permitting) on December 23, after over 60 years of holding it on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

. The park was listed in 2016 on the

and the

Virginia Landmarks Register The Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) is a list of historic properties in the Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atla ...

References

External links

Byrd Park on Richmond (VA) Park Search websiteByrd Park Civic LeagueByrd Park – Richmond (VA) website
{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Parks in Richmond, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia Virginia municipal and county parks Byrd family (Virginia) Protected areas established in 1888 1888 establishments in Virginia