Know Your History: Pumphouse RVA
Image Description: A man stands on a ladder working with tools on a historic window.
Behind him is a cloudy, blue sky.
Windows, windows, windows. We’ve been restoring some inside of Richmond’s Historic Pumphouse. And that’s not all… we’ve been learning about the history of this 19th Century Gothic Revival water works.
It was designed by Col. Wilfred Emory Cutshaw, a confederate and Richmond City’s Engineer from 1874 to 1907. Cutshaw wasn’t just a one-time confederate soldier either. He enlisted a second time after being shot and dismissed from service due to the injury.
During his time as Richmond City’s Engineer, the confederate monuments were created and celebrated, namely the Lee Monument, J.E.B. Stuart Monument, Jefferson Davis Monument, the Libby Hill Confederate Soldiers and Sailors column, and others. However, he's most famously known for his creation of some public parks and adding a few trees to the city.
Originally called “the New Pump House,” Pumphouse served as the city’s water works from 1883 to 1924. Cutshaw designed it to be a public utility water works, as well as a social gathering space for the rich, white elites of Richmond to enjoy. The second floor featured a large ballroom space with stained glass windows, two lavatories, and an office. Below the ballroom space, the water works facility was housed and operated.
We’ve been unable to find information on who the laborers that actually built Pumphouse were, but the building itself is made of local granite. When the water works facility closed in 1924, the city sold off the machinery inside as scrap metal to Japan. By 1950, the building was set to be demolished. Instead of destroying the space, Pumphouse was sold to the First Presbyterian Church for $1. Eventually, ownership was transferred back to the City of Richmond.
Today it is cared for by the Friends of Pumphouse and the City of Richmond.
Sources:
Richmond’s Unhealed History (Written by Benjamin Campbell)