Richmond City Council acquired the land for Monroe Park, originally 11 acres, in 1851 for $13,592.56 ($316,106.04 adjusted to 2004 dollars which was a great value) —half payable in cash, and the balance over six years on an eight percent note. It was the first of several new parks envisioned in 1851-1853, places that would provide opportunities to partake of “invigorating air” and to participate in the “interchange of social affections.” City Council, according to minutes of its July 13, 1851 meeting, noted the presence of magnificent “public squares” in Florence, Venice, Boston and New York, and asked, “Shall not Richmond, as beautiful as she is acknowledged to be by all who behold her, have her squares and city grounds?” The property was outside the city at the time, but bordered the city limits. City Council was not unmindful of the role parks could play in promoting residential development and in expanding the city and its tax base.

Originally designated as “Western Square,” development of the park did not commence for almost 20 years. However, the land was quickly pressed into use for the state agricultural fair, complete with “horse show grounds” and an “extensive course” along what is the north side of today’s Franklin Street. State and national agricultural fairs were held in Western Square (which thus became known as “the Fair Grounds) from 1853 to 1858, after which time most people referred to it as “the Old Fair Grounds,” although a new name, “Monroe Square,” did begin to show up in City Council minutes as early as 1855.

The property languished after the fair’s departure, except for occasional events and Fourth of July celebrations. Then, in 1861-62, its was shorn of its high plank fence and vacant stalls and became a Civil War “Camp of Instruction” where Confederate soldiers from all over the South, including Stonewall Jackson and Virginia Military Institute cadets, conducted mock battles and other training. In 1864, the barracks in Monroe Square were converted into a military hospital and, in mid-summer 1866, the hospital was pressed into service to help deal with a cholera epidemic. But the square, otherwise, was a large dusty field, devoid of trees and broken only by latrine trenches. City Council had no money for improvements and the square was rented for $200 a year to Richmond’s early “Base Ball” clubs.

A critical turning point in Monroe Square’s history came in 1869 with the appointment to City Council of U.S. Army Lt. Col. Albert Ordway, provost marshal for Virginia following the Civil War. Ordway convinced City Council to fund tree planting and landscaping of “Monroe Park” and in 1872 he donated the park’s first fountain, a stone pyramid. By the late 1870s, the area around the park began to fill in with long-envisioned “handsome blocks of houses” and churches. It was noted that “Monroe Park is crowded with delighted promenaders these lovely evenings and lovelier nights,” and that “sweet music” was provided by “Kessnich and his excellent band.” The blossoming upscale neighborhood was now part of the city, having been finally annexed in 1867.

The first permanent statue in the park was dedicated in 1891, the present four-tier fountain was installed about 1908, and the park enjoyed its heyday up through World War II. But the neighborhood changed with the post-war move to the suburbs. Upkeep of the park faltered. The murder of a prominent physician in the park in 1959 didn’t help. Some even suggested it was time to use the park as a parking lot, for a 200-unit motel, or as part of the Downtown Expressway. These suggestions were quickly quashed by the Monroe Park Protective Association, the James River Garden Club and other groups.
But the park continued to languish, although it became a location for rock concerts and a home for the homeless. Then, in 1991, City Council created the Monroe Park Advisory Council and designated the park as a green space in perpetuity. At the same time, the city and Virginia Commonwealth University signed a joint agreement on use and maintenance of the park. With these basics accomplished, the Advisory Council moved ahead in the late 1990s to develop a new master plan for the park. The plan was adopted in 1998, but efforts over the next several years to fund full implementation proved fruitless. A reconstituted Advisory Council in 2004 began to approach park improvements on a step-by-step basis—including tree trimming, landscaping, and abolition of parking in the park—with the master plan, or a modification of it, as a longer-term objective.

History By: David M. Clinger (2004)