I remember Richmond when...

[VTinPhilly]

More memories of Richmond....

*I remember the National Tobacco Festival with its "Illuminated Parade" and Tobacco Bowl football game at City Stadium;

*I remember the delicious smell of the Nolde's Bakery on E. Broad St. & Nolde's bread in the blue cellophane wrapping;

*I remember my family taking the train from Main Street Station to the amusement park at Buckroe Beach;

*I remember the big hotels--Hotel Richmond (300 rooms), Hotel King Carter (250 rooms), Hotel John Marshall (500 rooms), and the Hotel William Byrd (200 rooms). All now closed or demolished;

*I remember standing in front of the big plate glass window of the Pepsi Cola Bottling Plant on W. Main St. watching a conveyor belt of Pepsi bottles being cleaned, filled, capped, shaken and crated;

*I remember the old saying that every North Carolina school kid knew the "3Rs" as "Reading, 'Riting, and the Road to Richmond";

*I remember when the RIR was a 1/2-mile dirt track and was called the "Strawberry Hill Racetrack";

*I remember watching the Virginia Squires play pro basketball at the old 6,000-seat Richmond Arena;

*I remember when the City tried to cover the Belgian Paving Blocks on Monument Ave. with sheet asphalt and a resident stepped in front of the paving machine stopping it dead in its tracks (she won that battle--the paving blocks were saved);

*I remember the huge animated Clicquot Club Ginger Ale sign at the south end of the Lee Bridge--a sudden flash of light followed by an explosion of multi-colored neon bubbles. Absolutely spectacular;

*I remember when Broad St./Grace St. downtown was the region's major retail center with dozens of fine stores;

*I remember when flooding caused by Hurricane Camille closed all the bridges over the James River as dead cattle, huge trees, and parts of buildings were swept along by the raging current;

*I remember watching the AAA Richmond Virginians of the International League play baseball at Parker Field, and

*I remember when the State Fair was also known as the "Atlantic Rural Exposition" and seeing the skyline of downtown Richmond from the top of the Ferris Wheel...

....so many fond memories of a grand old city.

[kevinm]

I remember shopping for clothing with my parents at the Sears on Broad Street.
I remember the news always talking about the Kepone chemical spill in the James River.
I remember watching "Shock Theater" on TV hosted by the "Bowman Body".
I remember being one of the first families to move into the Hathaway Tower on Forest Hill Ave.

[pantin23]

I don't have anything on the previous posters but:

I remember Seeing Thalhimers being demolished
I Remember the Richmond Braves
I remember the Richmond Renegades
I Vaguely Remember 6th Street Marketplace
I remember when Jackson ward was dangerous to go to
I remember when the Airport was way smaller and was basically on one floor
I remember the western patches of 288 under construction
I remember running around in the old canal-walk power plant when it was abandoned, and had a roof
I remember when people still talked about the city like it was a crime-ridden hopeless case.