[ reface Today Richmond s identity transcends the city<br > to encompass a burgeoning metropolitan area.<br > This larger region consists of the urban nucleus<br >~_;atewav and Capital City， Richmond s charm (62.5 square miles); Chesterfield County (446<br >:ombines both the old and the new. Discovered at square miles); Hanover County (471 square miles);<br >:he time of the settling of Jamestown， the city rec- and Henrico County (244 square miles). The fed-<br >3rds a history as chronologically long as that of erally-defined Standard Metropolitan Statistical<br >the United States. Through three centuries， Rich- Area ($MSA) includes Richmond， Colonial<br >mond has displayed different faces: Indian village， Heights， Petersburg， and the three counties. Geo-<br >trading post， frontier settlement， town， city， and graphically， greater Richmond is situated at the<br >thriving metropolitan center. A certain mystique Coastal Plain-Piedmont boundary， where the riv-<br >and ambiguity embrace Richmond， wherein the ers shift from free-flowing to tidal streams. Eleva-<br >past intrudes on the present， and the present on tion ranges from zero at the southeastern end of<br >the past. Ric]mmnd: An Illustrated History seeks the metropolitan region to 312 feet in the western<br >to tell the story of the making of the city and the section.<br >development of its people. While the book bal- More than a century ago， when large numbers<br >ances economic， political， social， intellectual， and of German immigrants arrived， a new resident in<br >demographic history， it also strives to explain how the city， itself， might well have proclaimed "Ich<br >citizens felt and acted， to convey a sense of what bin ein Richmonder." Today "Richmond" has a<br >it was like to be an average Richmonder in any broader connotation. If a resident of one of the<br >given era. adjacent urban counties visited another part of<br > From frontier to metropolis， there have been America and were asked where he or she lived，<br >growing pains. Urbanization entailed stress， as the the answer would invariably be "Richmond".<br >local population adjusted to and met the chal- While owing some character to the central por-<br >lenges of municipal problems. A city of the tion of the state， Richmond-in-Virginia endures<br >wealthy and the poor， with great ethnic diversity， more as a frame of mind. This illustrated history<br >Richmond was nearly equally divided between depicts the town s story--its rise from village to<br >blacks and whites throughout its history. Similar- its current place within the broader metropolitan<br >ly， it maintained social and cultural ties to both area. Again， given the restrictions of space， it is<br >the North and the South. Given a nostalgic， yet impossible to present parallel histories of the four<br > often progressive temperament， plus a geographic jurisdictions that now comprise greater Richmond，<br > location between the Piedmont and the Tide- Broad references note the interaction of the metro<br > water， Richmond may be characterized， above all， communities， however， and coverage is extended<br > as a city of contrasts， in the later chapters to call attention to the phe-<br > When generally treating the history of the city nomenal growth and urbanization which the<br > and its people， some neglected aspects of Rich- adjacent counties have witnessed over the past<br > mond s past surface. Since all issues cannot be half-century.<br > covered， however， the aim has been to achieve Materials for a history of Richmond are abun-<br > cross-sectional representation of major themes and dant. The Virginia State Library and the Virginia<br > developrnents. Regrettably， space precludes corn- Historical Society have particularly extensive hold"<br > prchensive discussion of the many heroes--leaders ings which document all phases of Richmond s<br >