Richmond has been compared to Rome because it, too, is a “city of seven hills.” Yet which hills are the “official” seven and where are they located? According to these websites, which quote a 1937 ordinance, [1, 2, 3, 4] the seven official hills of Richmond are:
1. Shockoe Hill (According to the National Park Service, the Capitol was built on Shockoe Hill, and the MCV VCU Campus is commonly referred to as being located on Shockoe Hill)
2. Union Hill (according to old maps of Richmond, and the Historic Richmond Foundation, Union Hill is located between Mosby, Jefferson, 25th, and Venable Streets)
3. Council Chamber Hill (the NPS website locates this hill east of the Governor St and this site puts it around 14th Street)
4. French Garden Hill (Mary Wingfield Scott’s book “Old Richmond Neighborhoods” locates this hill north of Leigh St between 8th and 10th streets and this site puts it around 9th Street)
5. Navy Hill (this blog locates Navy Hill between 3rd, 10th, and Leigh Streets and an article in the VCU library locates it in the same general area, north of Leigh Street between 3rd and 10th Streets)
6. Church Hill (according to old maps of Richmond Church Hill is the hill on which stands the famous St.John’s Episcopal Church, site of Patrick Henry’s famous, “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech)
7. Gambles Hill can be located on old maps of Richmond as the hill just east of Oregon Hill overlooking the James River.
Special thanks to Andrew Bain, a very knowledgeable librarian at VCU, who gave me a lot of help with my research. Here’s a Google map showing the general location of these seven hills. Let me know if you find a discrepancy.
