Raging Bird
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2007
- Messages
- 608
- Reaction score
- 565
- Location
- New Orleans
- Website
- www.ragingbirdofyouth.tumblr.com
http://www.squattheplanet.com/threads/richmond-va.884/
Re-read this thing and I'm pretty sure I was high when I wrote it - hope it helped someone out nonetheless. It's been 3 more years of sublimated boredom, and 3 more years of discovering realer shit that only Richmond's Basest and most Detestable could possibly know about. Here goes:
Underground Drainage River
Since writing Part One I've been living in a van in Newtowne West, arguably the last genuinely sketchy area in downtown Richmond. I recommend it to anyone who gets along with thieves and crack addicts better than their own peers, anyone in search of a $60 laptop like the one I'm typing on right now, and anyone who actually needs to dispose of a body for the first time. That's where the Underground River comes in.
Deceptively close to the downtown Kroger, Newtowne is actually a world apart, as evidenced by the fact that VCU students still fear to enter in spite of its immediate proximity. The crack machine is still in full effect, though nowhere near the operating capacity of it's late-90's predecessor. A man approached me on Moore Street and recalled a full block of crack houses, abutted by a small forest to which fiends would retreat to enjoy their spoils. Now, the houses have been razed and the trees bulldozed; "Things have really changed", I said. "Yeah, they're trying to make it hard for us", he responded, before asking me for a dollar.
Situated along the train line which divides Downtown from Northside, Newtowne used to hedge a small creek along the tracks and featured small bridges connecting one side to the other. Due to Richmond's perennial propensity for flooding, however, city officials decided to create a large tunnel in the 1970's, running beneath the city and effectively relocating the creek 10 feet underground. To access it, one need only follow Dineen to the dead end, turn right on the tracks, and locate the manhole in the abandoned jungle behind the Auto Shop. Note the AEST and SIGH tags bedecking the shop's exterior - period pieces from the two most virtuous graffiti artists in Richmond history (disregarding ELK, of course).
Beneath the manhole flows a small river with brick walkways on either side. Pitch black, a flashlight and a pair of boots are highly recommended. Rumours abound that the VCU library has a blueprint for the network of tunnels somewhere in the annals of its labyrinthine archives. Pending their discovery, we can only speculate on its scale. Reports have trickled in that, with the right precautions, they can be followed to the Nickel Bridge and used to enter the Carillon from below. Further details are forthcoming.
Scuffletown Park
Located in the alley behind the 400 block of Strawberry St. and Stafford Ave, Scuffletown is a fairly underwhelming city park. It is, however, not located on any real street, and therefore seldom trafficked or policed. Remarkable only for being the site of an 18th-Century revolutionary skirmish and for housing the first of a series of Richmond fish statues, it is nonetheless a safe and public place to drink in the Fan. This actually is remarkable.
Fred Assenheimer Surplus Warehouse
Located at 429 Brook Road in Jackson Ward, this is a fortified warehouse to which I have never been able to gain access. Previously a hardware store, it was used as a military surplus storehouse in the 1920's and currently houses 3 floors of World War I paraphernalia, locked for 90 years in an unassuming vault. Send me a PM if you can break into this one.
Abandoned Brewery Beneath Rocketts Landing
Getting into the Pump House
Fulton Gas Works
Sandra's Soul Food and Tony's BBQ
A Brief Tour of Black Radicalism
All these and more when I get the time to keep writing this. To be continued later.
Re-read this thing and I'm pretty sure I was high when I wrote it - hope it helped someone out nonetheless. It's been 3 more years of sublimated boredom, and 3 more years of discovering realer shit that only Richmond's Basest and most Detestable could possibly know about. Here goes:
Underground Drainage River
Since writing Part One I've been living in a van in Newtowne West, arguably the last genuinely sketchy area in downtown Richmond. I recommend it to anyone who gets along with thieves and crack addicts better than their own peers, anyone in search of a $60 laptop like the one I'm typing on right now, and anyone who actually needs to dispose of a body for the first time. That's where the Underground River comes in.
Deceptively close to the downtown Kroger, Newtowne is actually a world apart, as evidenced by the fact that VCU students still fear to enter in spite of its immediate proximity. The crack machine is still in full effect, though nowhere near the operating capacity of it's late-90's predecessor. A man approached me on Moore Street and recalled a full block of crack houses, abutted by a small forest to which fiends would retreat to enjoy their spoils. Now, the houses have been razed and the trees bulldozed; "Things have really changed", I said. "Yeah, they're trying to make it hard for us", he responded, before asking me for a dollar.
Situated along the train line which divides Downtown from Northside, Newtowne used to hedge a small creek along the tracks and featured small bridges connecting one side to the other. Due to Richmond's perennial propensity for flooding, however, city officials decided to create a large tunnel in the 1970's, running beneath the city and effectively relocating the creek 10 feet underground. To access it, one need only follow Dineen to the dead end, turn right on the tracks, and locate the manhole in the abandoned jungle behind the Auto Shop. Note the AEST and SIGH tags bedecking the shop's exterior - period pieces from the two most virtuous graffiti artists in Richmond history (disregarding ELK, of course).
Beneath the manhole flows a small river with brick walkways on either side. Pitch black, a flashlight and a pair of boots are highly recommended. Rumours abound that the VCU library has a blueprint for the network of tunnels somewhere in the annals of its labyrinthine archives. Pending their discovery, we can only speculate on its scale. Reports have trickled in that, with the right precautions, they can be followed to the Nickel Bridge and used to enter the Carillon from below. Further details are forthcoming.
Scuffletown Park
Located in the alley behind the 400 block of Strawberry St. and Stafford Ave, Scuffletown is a fairly underwhelming city park. It is, however, not located on any real street, and therefore seldom trafficked or policed. Remarkable only for being the site of an 18th-Century revolutionary skirmish and for housing the first of a series of Richmond fish statues, it is nonetheless a safe and public place to drink in the Fan. This actually is remarkable.
Fred Assenheimer Surplus Warehouse
Located at 429 Brook Road in Jackson Ward, this is a fortified warehouse to which I have never been able to gain access. Previously a hardware store, it was used as a military surplus storehouse in the 1920's and currently houses 3 floors of World War I paraphernalia, locked for 90 years in an unassuming vault. Send me a PM if you can break into this one.
Abandoned Brewery Beneath Rocketts Landing
Getting into the Pump House
Fulton Gas Works
Sandra's Soul Food and Tony's BBQ
A Brief Tour of Black Radicalism
All these and more when I get the time to keep writing this. To be continued later.
