Ridge Street Historic District

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The Ridge Street Historic District, located in Southwest Charlottesville, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. This historic district includes a four block residential area just to the south of downtown Charlottesville. Located on one of the City's principal thoroughfares, the Ridge Street area contains a large number of architecturally significant residential structures dating back to the mid-1800's. Situated on a ridge, as the street's name implies, Ridge Street attracted many of Charlottesville's wealthy merchant families in the late 1800's.

The Ridge Street area was originally part of Alexander Garrett's Oak Hill estate. Garrett was an associate of Thomas Jefferson and had a considerable part in the founding of the University of Virginia. Sold and subdivided into lots around 1830, Ridge Street grew very slowly even though it was one of the principal roads leading out of tow to the south. One of the first homes built along it was 632 Ridge Street, bought by Colonel John B. Strange and operated as a military school until the Civil War caused it to close in 1861. Along with the Albemarle Military Institute, there were fewer than a dozen houses along Ridge Street during this period.

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