Sherwood Park (Richmond, Virginia)
Among the streetcar suburbs commissioned in 1891 by local businessman Lewis Ginter, Sherwood Park's original design was laid out in 1892 by the firm of acclaimed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
[1] Due to economic, social, and political factors during Ginter's lifetime, Olmsted's elegant design of gently curved streets was never realized.
Today the community has evolved into a diverse neighborhood of tree lined streets, bike lanes, a variety of architectural styles and sidewalks throughout.
The name Sherwood was taken from an old estate along Brook Turnpike dating from the early 1800s that belong to a New York banker whom Ginter had partnered with after the war.
Among Olmsted's notable and lasting achievements was the creation of the gardens at George W. Vanderbilt's massive Biltmore estate in Asheville NC.
It was there on one of their regular forays through Richmond to Biltmore that an associate of Ginter in the Sherwood Land Company, Edward H. Bissell, met Olmsted in 1888.
As originally conceived, the parkway would be large enough to accommodate a street-car line in the central median that would not disturb the nearby horse-drawn carriage traffic.
Apparently Ginter approved these changes and as a consequence there is no evidence of further cooperation between the Sherwood Land Company and Olmsted's firm after 1893.
Moreover, it appeared that Ginter Park was more favored by wealthy whites moving into the suburbs who wanted to avoid the black community in nearby Douglas Court (the current site of Virginia Union University).
The most notable similarity is the gently curving Brookland Parkway with its luscious crepe myrtle tree borders that dazzle commuters during the summer months.
In 1887, Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire acquired a tract of land in the northeastern corner of modern Sherwood Park for his private country retreat.
[6] McGuire was a Confederate patriot, personal physician to Stonewall Jackson, a friend and business partner of Lewis Ginter, and one of the founders of the Medical College of Virginia.
[8] Grassy lawns, recreational features such as athletic fields and tennis courts, many mature trees, a community walking track, and a meditation labyrinth added to the vibrance and vitality of the neighborhood and to the Seminary.
[13] A zoning ordinance passed for the Westwood tract in 1953 by the Richmond City Council gave permission to the Seminary to build multifamily dwellings on the site (for dormitories), according to the standards of the time.
[14] While the neighboring communities had enjoyed a cordial relationship with the Seminary since their mutual inception, the residents reacted swiftly to the pending disruption of the historic character of the neighborhood, the prospect of increased urbanization and congestion surrounding the development, and the loss of recreational facilities that were already scarce in the Northside region.
The Seminary decided to limit its original plans by construction of a 300-unit apartment complex on just 15 acres (6.1 ha) on the eastern section of the site along Brook Rd and adjacent to Ginter Park.
The decision to demolish the structure coincided with a racial reckoning across the country following the murder of George Floyd and demonstrations protesting police brutality.
[21] Some preservationists who opposed its demolition questioned the sincerity of the seminary's explanation for razing the home, noting that its leaders had considered the option years ago.
The site increases the accessibility of education and volunteer opportunities, and is a central location for distribution and on-farm partnerships in the Richmond area.
It was developed in 2022 on the site of the preexisting walking track on seminary property in the Westwood tract inside Sherwood Park.
