Pump House Park

One of the lesser known parks in Richmond, Pump House Park is right near the Nickel Bridge (you know, the one that costs $ 0.35) to cross… It’s a smaller park great for walking, and filled with unexpected little bits of history. For example, the first thing you see when you walk into the park is the Pump House itself… it’s under construction but it basically a big old building that once had a dance hall level as well as being used to pump water through Richmond.
The house was built next to the Kanawha Canal, which you can also see the remains of. Further into the park, you can follow the water and cross a few small bridges and see where the original canal was built, and then where it was moved to later on… there are several interesting facts on plaques along the way, and it’s nice to walk with your pooches even a few good friends on a nice day. You can also see some impressive houses way up on the hills above the park, that look out over the James, which is fairly close to the park…
For some additional info and pictures of the Pump House, there is a great blog post by a local Richmonder-http://downtownrichmond.blogspot.com/20­09/04/richmonds-secret-castle-pump-house₁₀.html.
Parking isn’t that great BTW– you may have to park on the side of the road… but don’t worry, there isn’t a lot of traffic going through there… it’s all residential back in that area (if you wander around long enough in the neighborhood you’ll find yourself behind the Carillon).