A few new tidbits about Richmond history...

Many club members are well-versed in Richmond and it's history, but historians and authors Brooks Smith and Wayne Dementi shared some new stories about our cities past at our June 24 meeting.
Smith and Dementi, who have co-authored two books together, opened with stories from their latest book about the hills of Richmond. The legend is that Richmond, much like Rome, is built on seven hills. While the authors could only find one map outlining only seven hills in our city and had trouble documenting the legends origin though noted historian Douglas Freeman traced it to a poem in the Dispatch newspaper.
They talked about Sheep Hill, which no longer exists, was home to Richmond's first baseball stadium. It now stands as a parking lot at Clay and Lombardy streets.
Also, Church Hill was where members of the Tri-State gang, a 1930's organized crime outfit, were arrested after a tip to the city newspaper.
No one was quite sure where Chimborazo Hill got its name either, but Smith was able to trace the name back to a large mountain in the Andes. How that name got stuck to a 200-foot hill in Richmond, our speaker did not know.
Smith and Dementi also shared photos and told stories from the first book, "The Songlines of Richmond."
There was a photo of Johnson's Happy Pals, a noted, local jazz group, after they won a competition against the likes of Duke Ellington.
He also shared a story of their research that found maybe Elvis got his start in Richmond. Using microfilm at the Library of Virginia, they found a handbill for a show for "one night only" at the Mosque that featured Hank Snow as the headliner and Elvis Presley as an opening act.
They also uncovered "one of the best horses of the 19th century" at the Bullfield plantation. They discovered "Planet" who in the 1850's competed in 31 races and won 27 times and finished second the other four.
Their last photo and story consisted of the 1968 Tuckahoe Little League all-star team who went to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. before losing in the final game to Japan 1-0.