New England developer envisioned a promised land

Babcock Temple -- later became HS Post Office

Highland Springs, an unincorporated community east of Richmond, Virginia, is a part of Henrico County. Henrico County is one of the original eight shires of Virginia, which had its origin in 1634. At the beginning, the county stretched from what is now Charles City County to west of the mountains. Nine counties, a part of a tenth and a city were cut from the original size.

Prior to 1890 the part of Henrico County which is now Highland Springs was a rural area. It was an area of small farms that had been carved from plantations that existed before the Civil War. A winding country road bisected the area.

It's said that New England real estate developer Edmund Sewell Read visited Europe, California and Florida in the 1880s trying to find a warmer and more healthful climate for his ailing wife.

First Highland Springs Schoolhouse -- 1 Room!

He finally found what he was looking for a few miles east of Richmond. This place, his surveyors told him, was the highest ground between Richmond and Atlantic Ocean, Sweet water oozed from at least nine springs. Before the arrival of Mr. Read in 1890, there were only a few scattered farms in the area.

He bought 1,000 acres on the north side of Nine Mile Road in 1891, and a few years later another 1,000 acres on the south side of Nine Mile Road. He laid the land out in lots and named the streets alphabetically for trees, shrubs, and flowers: Ash, Beech, Cedar, Daisy, Elm, Fern, etc. It may be an exaggeration to call them streets at that time, because this was before the arrival of automobiles. Mr. Read was apparently a man who looked to the future.

The land was high ground and well watered by springs. He named the place Highland Springs.

Lots were advertised for sale for $50 to $300. A buyer could put $10 to $20 down and pay $5 to $10 monthly. Read's company would lend money for building. If you decided to stay you'd be eligible for a free pass for a year on the suburban railroad.

That small railroad running from Richmond to Seven Pines was Highland Springs' early lifeline. By 1893, there were 50 houses, a church, library, school, firehouse and post office.

Second Highland Springs School -- 1906

There were no saloons and no resident blacks in Highland Springs because, according to a 1965 essay by Charles Chappell, neither was allowed to reside in the new village.

The survival of the town got a boost from the 1894 sale of the commuter rail line to the Richmond Railway and Electric Company. The new company introduced the electric streetcar to Highland Springs in that year. It ran from Seven Pines to 29th and P Streets in Richmond. Its rush-hour fare was 2 1/2 cents, 4 1/2 cents at other times.

The cars ran about once every hour and made stops every block or so while going through Highland Springs. The influence of the streetcars made such an impact on the life of the village that the street names were seldom used. You identified your street by its streetcar stop number.

HS School Cadet Corps -- 1921

By 1895, the town had its own newspaper, the Highland Springs Journal. Front-page advertisements touted the virtues of the new suburb.

Churches and civic organizations began to take root in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1905, the one-room schoolhouse sheltered 27 students in grades 1 through 6.

Supported by the Women's Study Club for Right Living of Highland Springs, scout troops started in 1913. The two Girl Scout troops were the first in the state of Virginia.

Commuters by automobile or horse-drawn wagon still had to suffer the vagaries of the Nine Mile Road, which was ankle deep in dust in dry weather and 4 inches deep in mud in wet. It was paved in 1923. Many of the side streets were tarred shortly after.

Highland Springs Fire Department -- 1941

Residents used well water until, in 1938-39, water and sewerage systems were introduced. Highland Springs resident and Henrico County Supervisor Dr. Horace Hicks (1938-1948) claims those improvements as well as sidewalks, curbs and gutters and streetlights as part of his legacy.

Some residents, no doubt, were sorry to see the streetcars replaced by buses in 1933. The electric cars were part of town life for 39 years.

The village has grown some since Read bought his first 1,000 acres.

Before the Fire -- HS Elementary, 1965

Residents accept Highland Springs' unofficial borders as extending from A.P. Hill Street on the west to Airport Drive on the east. The northern boundary is the Chickahominy River. The railroad tracks establish the southern boundary.

Edmund Sewell Read moved to Washington in 1918, leaving his two sons to continue his business and civic leadership. The founder of Highland Springs died in 1937. He was 80 years old.


- article courtesy of Don Pierce