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| Arthur Ashe |
The First Stop on my trip was the Arthur Ashe Monument, which is also the newest monument on the Avenue. Ashe was a native of Richmond and a famous tennis player who won three Grand Slam Events and was the first black player selected to the Davis Cup Team. Ashe died in 1993 and is buried in 1993 and is buried in Richmond's Woodland Cemetery. Following his death there was a push to add a statue of him on Monument Avenue. After much discussion the statue by Paul DiPasquale was dedicated in 1996.
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| Matthew Fontaine Maury |
Just a short walk from the Arthur Ashe Monument is the Matthew Fontaine Maury Maury, who was known as "Pathfinder of the Seas" and "Father of Modern Oceanography. He was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia on January 14, 1806 and died in Lexington, Virginia on February 1, 1873. He is buried in Richmond's Historic Hollywood Cemetery.
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| Jefferson Davis |
Next up is the Jefferson Davis Monument. Davis was born in Kentucky on June 3, 1808 and served as a United States Senator from Mississippi just prior to the Civil War. In 1862, Davis became the first and only President of the Confederate States of America. During his term in office he and his family lived here in Richmond, which was the capital of the Confederacy. Following the war, Davis was imprisoned at Fort Monroe. After being in prison for more than 2-years, Davis was released and lived his remaining years in the deep south. He died on December , 1889 in New Orleans and was originally buried in the Meairie Cemetery where is rested until 1893, when Mrs. Davis decided to have him reinterred in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.
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| Stonewall Jackson |
The "Stonewall" Jackson Monument is the next Monument and is one of three equestrian statues on the Avenue. Thomas J. Jackson was born in Clarksburg, Virginia (Now West Virginia) and prior to the Civil War was a professor at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. During the Civil War he was one of the south most celebrated generals. He was accidentally shot by his own trooper at Chancellorsville in 1863. His remains was returned to Lexington and he is buried in the Stonewall Jackson Cemetery.
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| J.E.B. Stuart |
James Ewell Brown Stuart, J.E.B. for short, is the next equestrian monument on the avenue. Jeb Stuart was born at Laurel Hill in Patrick County, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in 1854 and was present at Harper's Ferry when John Brown was Captured. During the Civil War he was General Robert E. Lee's most accomplished cavalry officers. He was killed on May 12, 1864 at Yellow Tavern near Richmond. He is buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.
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| Robert E. Lee |
The final monument on the avenue is that of General Robert E. Lee. General Lee was born at Stratford Hall Plantation on January 19,1807. He attended the Unites State Military Academy at West Point and remains the only cadet to graduate without receiving a single demerit. During the Civil War he served at General of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. After four long years of War, General Lee surrendered his army to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Courthouse Virginia. Follow the war General Lee retired to Lexington, Virginia where he became president of Washington College, which is today Washington and Lee University. General Lee died in Lexington on October 12, 1870 and is entombed in the the family crypt in Lee Chapel on the Campus of Washington and Lee University.
All total it is about a mile and a half from the Arthur Ashe to the Robert E. Lee Monument. So, round trip it is about a 3-mile walk but it all on level ground. I really enjoyed my stroll down one of Richmond's more historic streets.
In addition to the photos here is a short 8-minute video of my walk down Historic Monument Avenue.
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