Highland Park (Richmond)
Encyclopedia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. Over time, various boundaries have served to split the neighborhood into sections traditionally labeled East Highland Park, North Highland Park, and South Highland Park. The southern Highland Park boundaries are roughly First Avenue to the west, Fifth Avenue to the east, the Shockoe Valley to the south, and E. Brookland Park boulevard to the north. The northern Highland Park boundaries are roughly defined by Pensacola ave and the railroad tracks to the north, Fifth avenue to the east, E. Brookland Park boulevard to the south, and the Richmond-Henrico Turnpike to the west. The zip code is 23222.
Largely residential in character, the area is notable for having Richmond's largest remaining stock of Queen Anne style
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
homes. Originally developed as a streetcar suburb
Streetcar suburb
A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Early suburbs were served by horsecars, but by the late 19th century cable cars and electric streetcars, or trams, were used, allowing...
starting in 1891, the community quickly became a magnet for the city's burgeoning southern & eastern European immigrant population, particularly Italians
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
, Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, and Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
.
The area declined after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
and other economic factors encouraged wealthy and middle-class residents to depart for newer neighborhoods in the city's West End. Southern Highland Park is currently seeing a resurgence of activity thanks to its location convenient to downtown and the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park. The city's "Neighborhoods in Bloom" program, a public-private partnership focused on encouraging investment activity in targeted areas, has also contributed to this resurgence.