PEDESTRIAN MALL The city's downtown pedestrian mall is an inviting place, except on a cold, windy winter day. It's almost always a busy place, too, full of shoppers, camera-toting tourists and knots of teenagers just looking for a place to hang out. |
ARTS AND EDUCATION Charlottesville is urbane, chic, arty, bookish, liberal in its politics and an expensive place to live. It's the quintessential university town. |
BEST-RATED CITY If Charlottesville were a beauty queen, she would be Miss America. She's healthy, beautiful, smart and knows a fine wine. |
EDUCATION AT THE CITY'S CORE U.Va., a center of intellect Everyone in Charlottesville knows when classes have resumed at the University of Virginia. |
JOHN PAUL JONES ARENA The massive $130 million John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia, expected to be an economic boon to Charlottesville, is set to open by early July. |
THE PLACE FOR WEDDINGS Late-afternoon sun illuminates the tan stone face of the University of Virginia Chapel as wedding guests linger outside. The bride and groom pose for pictures near a garden wall off the historic Lawn. |
A TASTE FOR GOOD FOOD The quickest way to find a restaurant in Charlottesville -- any kind of restaurant -- is head to the city's historic downtown. That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other great places to eat -- from The Corner area next to the University of Virginia to the Boar's Head Inn on the way to the Blue Ridge Mountains. |
A CITY'S HUMBLE ORIGINS Sure, today Charlottesville is known as a hip little city in the heart of Virginia, but it wasn't always that way. |
TIME CAPSULES The 1930 Thanksgiving Day football game at the University of Virginia made history on and off the field. For weeks, U.Va. football fans eagerly awaited the milestone contest. It was the final game of the last full football season at Lambeth Field, site of U.Va. home games since 1902. |
A CENTER FOR CULTURE The city's arts and culture scene boasts countless reputable galleries and a new venue that can welcome big-time players. |
BLUE SPOT IN A RED STATE Charlottesville's reputation as a Democratic stronghold makes it stand out in a state that has not voted blue in a presidential election in four decades. |
ECLECTIC PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY Every city has its eclectic, unpretentious local attractions rarely trumpeted to tourists. Three come to mind in Charlottesville -- an old bookstore, a tiny, legendary restaurant and a more than century-old drugstore complete with a soda fountain and lunch counter. |
PRETTY VIEWS AND PARKS FOR PLAY Entering the city along the main roads, drivers are greeted by richly colored floral arrangements adorning the medians on which city signs are perched. Visual appeal is a big part of Charlottesville. |
AN ARRAY OF BUSINESSES It may be 2006, but the atmosphere at Tuel Jewelers is vintage 1945. "We have the same display cases in our store that we had in 1945 when the store opened," said Mary Loose DeViney, vice president of the family-owned and operated store. |
ON THE LINKS Links to one of the nation's finest universities and to a first-rate resort hotel place Birdwood Golf Course in some high-cotton company. |
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Exploring Charlottesville is part of an occasional series of special limited-distribution sections that explore communities around the Old Dominion in detail.
www.charlottesville.org
www.DailyProgress.com
University of Virginia
1744: The General Assembly creates Albemarle County out of a portion of Goochland County. The new county is named Albemarle in honor of William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle and Colonial governor.
1761: The General Assembly, in response to an expanding population, separates two new counties, Amherst and Buckingham, from Albemarle. The James River, previously the main conduit for transportation and commerce, becomes Albemarle County's southern boundary.
1762: The General Assembly establishes Charlottesville as the Albemarle County seat. Charlottesville, laid out on a grid, is named in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III.
1779: Four thousand English and German prisoners of the Revolutionary War are imprisoned in barracks in Charlottesville.
1781: Capt. John "Jack" Jouett warns the General Assembly, meeting in Charlottesville, of an impending raid by the British army. The assembly reconvenes in Staunton.
1826: Christ Church Episcopal is consecrated as Charlottesville's first church. Religious services had been held in the Albemarle County courthouse.
1850: Louisa Railroad Co., a predecessor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, arrives in Charlottesville. The railroad connects to the Shenandoah Valley in 1858.
1863: The Southern Railroad, running on a north-south route, arrives in Charlottesville, intersecting the previous railway line midway between downtown and the University of Virginia. The arrival of the railroads cements Charlottesville as a commercial hub.
1887: Horse-drawn streetcars arrive on Charlottesville streets.
1888: Charlottesville incorporates as a city by charter of the General Assembly.
1947: Charlottesville's City Council approves the first city budget over $1 million for the fiscal year 1947-48. 1976: Charlottesville opens a pedestrian mall on a portion of Main Street.
Compiled by Times-Dispatch research librarian Jennifer Perilli. |
