America's Spark Of Independence Still Shines In The Always Revolutionary Richmond Region

This year, travelers are invited to experience a destination where revolutionary ideas aren't just part of history—they're happening every day.

The Richmond Region in Virginia is central to America's story. Here, Patrick Henry's fiery “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech sparked the fight for independence and secured the region's place at the forefront of change. In 2026, that legacy takes center stage as the nation marks 250 years of independence, with a powerful lineup of exhibitions and events unfolding across the Richmond Region.

Richmond Region Tourism is highlighting this legacy through its Always Revolutionary campaign, which invites travelers to explore the people, places and ideas that have shaped and continue to define the region.

“There's never been a better time to visit the Richmond Region,” said Katherine O'Donnell, President & CEO of Richmond Region Tourism. “In 2026, our localities are bringing history to life through stories that reflect the diverse people, cultures and communities who have shaped this region, while also showcasing the innovative Always Revolutionary spirit that continues to define us today.”

A Milestone Year for History and Heritage

Visitors can take part in America's founding story at sites across the Richmond Region. They can stand where Patrick Henry delivered his legendary call for liberty at Historic St. John's Church, explore Patrick Henry's only surviving home at Scotchtown, and tour the Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson. At The Valentine First Freedom Center, visitors can explore the lasting impact of the Statute for Religious Freedom, one of Virginia's most influential contributions to democratic ideals.

Between Richmond, which became Virginia's capital during the Revolutionary War, and Williamsburg, the colony's earlier capital, New Kent County adds some of the region's most significant connections to the Revolutionary story. Visitors can explore the grounds of St. Peter's Parish Church, rumored to be the wedding site of George and Martha Washington, and stay overnight at the historic New Kent Ordinary, one of America's oldest roadside taverns. Nearby, the James Lafayette Monument honors an enslaved man who became a key American spy during the Revolutionary War.

History continues in places shaped directly by the war itself, including Colonial Heights, named for the colonial forces stationed along the Appomattox River during the fight for independence.

In Chesterfield County, Henricus Historical Park brings 1611 to life at the second successful English settlement in the New World, where early foundations of American society were formed along the James River.

The Richmond Region also illuminates the places and people often left out of traditional narratives. Opening April 19, the restored Skipwith–Roper Cottage in Richmond's Jackson Ward will honor Abraham Peyton Skipwith, the first known Black homeowner in the neighborhood, circa 1793.

That broader approach to history also includes new efforts to examine the region's role in slavery and its lasting impact. Opening April 9, the Shockoe Institute's Expanding Freedom exhibit at Main Street Station will provide new context for understanding Richmond's role in the domestic slave trade and its enduring legacy, expanding how the region's history is examined and understood.

The Always Revolutionary digital trail guides visitors to key historic sites across the Richmond Region, highlighting the places where events unfolded and ideas took root during the fight for independence.

2026 Commemorations: Celebrating 250 Years of Independence
Throughout the year, visitors can experience landmark exhibitions and events tied to America's 250th anniversary. Richmond Sailfest (June 12–14) welcomes international tall ships to the James River for a free, festival-style weekend of performances and history.

At the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Revolutionary Allies (March 7–Nov. 1) and We the People (March 21–Sept. 7) explore the people and partnerships that shaped the nation. The museum will also host IllumiNATION (June 25–28), a large-scale outdoor sound and projection show illuminating America's 250-year story across its block-long façade.

At the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, exhibitions and outreach programs in 2026 will examine the American Revolution and its ideals through art, including a gallery exhibition focused on George Washington and artistic interpretations of the Revolution, as well as a statewide mobile exhibition exploring themes of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness through works from the museum's permanent collection.

Historic St. John's Church continues its iconic “Liberty or Death” reenactments on summer Sundays, while Patrick Henry's Scotchtown hosts the Governor Celebration on Sept. 19. At The Valentine, Dissent! Liberty & Loyalty in Early Richmond (Feb. 26–Jan. 31, 2027) examines the tensions of a young nation. The Branch Museum of Design presents Americana (opening July 2), exploring the symbols and stories that have shaped American identity.

Together, these events are part of a broader slate of commemorations unfolding throughout 2026 as the Richmond Region marks America's 250th anniversary.

Revolutionary Voices and Revolutionary Ideas

The Richmond Region's story is defined not only by pivotal moments, but by the people whose voices challenged convention and expanded opportunity. Visitors can explore the legacy of poet Edgar Allan Poe at the Poe Museum, walk in the footsteps of Maggie Lena Walker at the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, and learn about figures such as John Marshall, Henry “Box” Brown, and Virginia Randolph.

Revolutionary ideas took form here in ways that transformed daily life, from the world's first successful electric streetcar system, introduced in Richmond in 1888, to student-led civil rights protests that helped drive social change.

That tradition of innovation continues today. Introduced in 2025 at Kings Dominion amusement park, Rapterra, the world's tallest and longest launched wing coaster, illustrates how revolutionary ideas in engineering and design continue to emerge in the Richmond Region.

Reinvention is also visible at the neighborhood level. Once an industrial district, Scott's Addition has transformed into one of the region's most dynamic areas, known for its mix of breweries, restaurants, creative businesses and residential development.

Revolutionary Spirit, Modern Momentum

In 2026, the Richmond Region's revolutionary spirit extends well beyond its historic sites. CarMax Park, the new home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, opens April 7 and anchors a new era of baseball and entertainment in the Diamond District. A longtime tradition also reaches a milestone as Richmond Raceway celebrates its 80th anniversary, honoring decades of racing history at one of America's premier short tracks.

The region's momentum is driven by its people and neighborhoods. Richmond's legacy of Black business excellence, rooted in Jackson Ward, remains a defining force. That creativity is especially visible in the region's ever-evolving food scene, including national recognition for chefs such as Leah Branch of The Roosevelt, a recent James Beard Award nominee.

Several beloved attractions will debut major enhancements in 2026. Maymont celebrates its 100th anniversary as a public park with the spring reopening of its mansion and expanded Virginia Wildlife Trail. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden will unveil its reimagined Conservatory in spring 2026, doubling the iconic domed structure in size, adding four distinct climate zones, and introducing a permanent butterfly exhibit. Later in the year, Brown's Island will debut a revitalized riverfront.

Ready to Visit?

Whether drawn by the nation's founding story, inspired by voices of change, or energized by what's new, 2026 is the moment to experience the Richmond Region. Together, the Richmond Region's people and places add depth to Virginia's broader VA250 commemoration. With history that still resonates and a future shaped by bold ideas, this is a place that's Always Revolutionary.

Start planning a trip at VisitRichmondVA.com.

Flying Scotsman Makes Triumphant Return

 by Golden Eagle

We look back at the Flying Scotsman’s marvelled past, including Tim Littler’s first journey using the locomotive, as it returns to operation once again this week.

For many reasons, 2016 will be a nostalgic year for Golden Eagle’s President and Founder, Tim Littler. Not only does it mark the 100th anniversary of the Trans-Siberian Railway, but the Flying Scotsman will be making its first run in over 40 years after an extensive restoration.

Having a passion for trains from a young age, Tim and his friends would often go and visit Altrincham Railway Station, enjoying the procession of steam-hauled Express trains that passed through on journeys from London and the South, during the electrification of the Euston-Manchester main line.

Shortly after operating his first successful rail tour in 1966, Tim followed this up with tours from Kings Cross to Newcastle and St Pancras to Altrincham, both of which included use of the Flying Scotsman locomotive.

Ready to depart – the Flying Scotsman at York station on 22 October 1966. (Image: Golden Eagle Luxury Trains)

On Thursday 25th February, the Flying Scotsman will return to operation once more on its inaugural run between London Kings Cross and York. It has been given a complete overhaul, with £4.2 million spent during a decade of restoration. First built in Doncaster in 1923 for use on the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), the locomotive is 70 feet in length, weighs 174 tonnes and can carry eight tonnes of coal and 5000 gallons of water.

The Flying Scotsman achieved many accolades during its years of activity; until the late 1930’s, it sometimes hauled the world’s longest non-stop rail service of the same name and in 1934 broke the world speed record by travelling over 100mph on a train from Leeds to London.

The Flying Scotsman 60103 on a test run in Bury on 17 January 2016. (Image: Golden Eagle Luxury Trains)

Upon retirement by British Rail in 1963, the locomotive had covered around two million miles. It was immediately bought for preservation, covering close to 500,000 miles more, visiting the likes of Australia and the USA.

The original design of the Flying Scotsman was produced by Sir Nigel Gresley. It was primarily painted Apple Green, in keeping with the other LNER passenger trains. This changed to black during the Second World War and once the war ended, it was painted Brunswick Green before changing to Apple Green in preservation.

The train returned to public ownership in 2004, when it was bought by the National Railway Museum (NRM), and its purchase was contributed to by Sir Richard Branson, along with avid public fundraising and a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. It has been through a long and thorough restoration; eight years by the NRM and two years by the Bury-firm, Riley & Son, who will continue to manage its operation for the next two years.

Crowds of train enthusiasts flocked to Bury’s Bolton Street Station to witness the locomotive’s return to the tracks for its first public outing, in early January, as it conducted test runs in preparation for its inaugural journey from London King’s Cross this Thursday. The snowy scenes made for perfect photograph opportunities, pleasing the thousands of visitors, many who had travelled the length of the country to see the return of the world’s most famous locomotive.

In May, the locomotive will travel the length and breadth of the UK, hauling some 13 excursions, which will doubtless draw huge crowds. In between trips, it will return to the NRM for public display.

10 of London’s Most Unusual Historical Sites

Motif for the former Cat and Fiddle inn on Lombard Street, City of London. Photograph: Londonstills.com / Alamy/Alamy

London is packed with easily overlooked historical sites in hidden corners or seemingly ordinary locations. Historian Dr Matthew Green picks 10 of his favourite places with a story to tell

Hanging signs of Lombard Street, the City

Lombard Street, amid the hullabaloo of the City, is one of the few places inLondon where 17th- and 18th-century-style shop signs survive in all their gilt glory, jutting from buildings on wrought-iron brackets, creaking and groaning in the wind. Walking west from Birchin Lane to St Mary Woolnoth’s, you can see the sign of the king’s head, “cat-a-fiddling”, golden grasshopper (originally the emblem of the Gresham family, who built the Royal Exchange), and golden anchor. They are Edwardian reconstructions of earlier (mainly goldsmiths’) signs, reappropriated by early 20th-century banks, though the signs of the black eagle and the black horse, which became the logos for Barclays and Lloyd’s, have vanished. Lateral thinking was needed to decipher old signs: Adam and Eve meant a fruiterer; a bugle’s horn, a post office; a unicorn, an apothecary’s; a spotted cat, a perfumer’s (since civet, a fashionable musky perfume, was scraped from the anal glands of African civet cats). Some signs breathed – there were cats in baskets, rats and parrots in cages, vultures tethered to wine shacks, and so on, often with bells around their necks. When these “live signs” expired, they were sometimes stuffed to ensure brand continuity.
• Lombard Street, EC3

St John’s Gate, Clerkenwell

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 Photograph: S R Veejay/Alamy

Unlikely among the office blocks and old warehouses of Clerkenwell, this bare, battlemented gate tower was built in 1504 as the entrance to the priory of St John (the charitable Order still exists today as St John Ambulance) when Clerkenwell was but a village in the fields. Long after the monastery had been dissolved and Clerkenwell swallowed by the growing metropolis, the east tower was home to Hogarth’s coffeehouse, opened by Richard, father of the famous artist, in 1703. The Hogarth family lived in the gate tower and we can imagine the child William at a window, gathering inspiration for his later engravings. His father was a quixotic Latin nut, who dreamed of publishing a Latin dictionary. There was only one rule in his coffeehouse: everyone had to speak, or at least learn to speak, in Latin. It was short-lived. The Hogarth family soon found themselves living within the “liberties” of another fortress-like structure: the Fleet Prison, where Richard was incarcerated for debt, while today the gate tower is occupied by an unexpectedly absorbing Order of St John museum.
• St John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, EC1M 4DA

Southwark Needle, London bridge

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 Photograph: Lana Rastro/Alamy

Perhaps because it blends in so effortlessly with the beige-grey office blocks around it, or even the Shard on the horizon, this svelte spike at the Southwark end of London bridge is all but invisible to the tourists and commuters going past. Sixteen metres long, at a slight tilt, and made of Portland stone, it marks the approximate spot where, for almost 400 years, the heads of traitors were impaled on wooden spears on the great stone gate, one of the first things people saw as they entered the City. A Swiss traveller counted over 30 in 1599, noting the perverse pride felt by noblemen seeing an ancestor’s head on a stick, grinning down at them. The first traitor to have the pleasure was William “Braveheart” Wallace in 1305 and by the time the tradition petered out in the late 17th century, the likes of Wat Tyler, Thomas Cromwell and Guy Fawkes had all been similarly transformed into gruesome human lollipops – their heads all parboiled, sautéed in pitch, and cared for by the keeper of the heads, one of the weirdest jobs in old London.
• Southwark Needle, London Bridge SE1

The Cat & Mutton pub, Broadway Market

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 Photograph: Mai Chen/Alamy

This lively gastropub stands between uber-gentrified Broadway Market and London Fields, once common grazing ground and a haunt of cut-throats and robbers, now more of a barbecue beach for mankle-flashing hipsters. In the 18th century, the Shoulder of Mutton and Cat was a watering hole for drovers en route to the meat markets and thrill-seekers from the City. And what thrills lay in store – each week, a pig was seized from the fields and brought to the pub, where it had its tail lathered in soap. The drinkers would then spill out and chase the pig, screaming and shouting, and pulling each other down. Their aim was to grab the pig by the tail, swing it round their heads, and hurl it into the fields. The prize: a gold-laced hat, elevated on a pole. Happily, the Cat & Mutton no longer sponsors pig swinging but, if it did, there’s a chance the poor creature’s snout would come crashing down onto a platter of organic olives or Brie de Meaux, sure to raise the eyebrows of the “bruschetta society” at the farmers’ market each Saturday.
• The Cat & Mutton pub, 76 Broadway Market, E8

Statue of Mr Jamrach’s Tiger, Tobacco Dock, Wapping 

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 Photograph: Rod williams/Alamy

Though there is a twinkle of malevolence in his eye, this bronze tiger in Wapping’s glum Tobacco Dock looks too playful and tame to have almost eaten the little boy in front of him for his lunch. But don’t be fooled. Alighting from Bengal in 1857, the tiger was the latest exotic addition to Charles Jamrach’s Animal Emporium on the deathly Ratcliffe Highway. However, it escaped, sauntered down the street, and clamped just about the only person who hadn’t fled in terror – a gawping nine-year old boy – between his jaws. Seeing what was going on, Mr Jamrach (or so he later claimed) rushed out of his shop and saved the boy with the aid of a colleague with a crowbar. The statue brings a dash of colour to Tobacco Dock, part of the docklands which, despite regeneration, is devoid of the bustle and energy it enjoyed prior to the dissolution of the docks from the late 1960s.
• Tobacco Dock, Wapping, E1

Caffè Nero, 79 Tottenham Court Road

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 Photograph: Pat Tuson/Alamy

On Tottenham Court Road, opposite Heal’s department store, is a solitary Caffè Nero. It sits, forlorn, in a moat of open space, like a lone domino. The concrete space around the café, in front of the mural, is a favourite spot for people to eat their lunch or feed pigeons, perhaps oblivious to the area’s tragic history. On Palm Sunday 1945, much of this area was decimated by a V2 rocket blast – the last, in fact, to rock central London. It destroyed Whitefield’s Tabernacle (since rebuilt on a smaller scale and today housing the American International Church), killing at least nine and damaging the surrounding buildings, many of which were never redeveloped. In the final stages of the second world war, just over 500 V2 rockets swooped down upon London, disembowelling entire streets without warning, sending mountainous halos of jet-black smoke swirling into the sky, and leaving parts of the city looking like the surface of the moon. They killed approximately 2,700 people. Today, the only signs of death are the seven non-flowering trees to the right of the café.
• Caffè Nero, 79 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 4TB

James J Fox Cigar Merchant, St James’s

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 Photograph: Geoff Wilkinson/Alamy

On superior St James’s Street, near Pickering Place (the smallest public square in London), statues of two Native Americans keep guard outside the headquarters of James J Fox. It claims to be the oldest cigar merchant in the world (though the shop itself was recast in an incongruously imperial Portland stone redevelopment in the 1920s). Inside, it’s dusty, musty and oaky with cabinets of cigars, a smorgasboard of pipes and wainscoting festooned with coats of arms. The large ledgers on display testify to some truly impressive customers over the years, including Oscar Wilde (who failed to pay off his bill) and Winston Churchill, whose 10-a-day cigar habit, in his view, contributed to his long-lasting health (he lived to 90). Inside, you can see the gorgeous leather armchair on which he sat to select his favourite smokes. Partially exempt from the smoking ban (via a loophole that allows you to claim you’re merely sampling prospective purchases), J J Fox is a relic of a vanished London tradition – the tobacco house – of which there were over 7,000 in 1614.
• James. J. Fox Cigar Merchant, 19 St James’s Street, SW1

The Handbell of St Sepulchre’s Church, Holborn Viaduct

 Photograph: PR

The connotations of St Sepulchre’s with death and burial are highly apt: for centuries, the pealing of its bell signalled the imminent hanging – or worse – of an inmate of nearby Newgate Prison, characterised by Casanova as “an abode of misery and depair, a hell such as Dante might have conceived”. Today, the church is unassuming, lost in swirling tides of traffic. Inside you’ll find, behind the third pillar on the right, another bell – a lead, squat handbell. Preserved in a handsome glass case, you might take it for a relic. But, in fact, it was an instrument of terror between the 17th and 19th centuries. On the eve of an execution, the sexton of St Sepulchre’s appeared outside the condemned hold, opened a tiny spiked slit and gave 12 tolls of this bell. He then recited a nasty little verse, beginning: “All you that in the condemned hold do lie, Prepare you, for tomorrow you shall die.” It was, as Lady Macbeth puts it, “the sternest goodnight”.
• St Sepulchre’s Church, Holborn Viaduct, EC1

Apothecaries’ Hall, Black Friars

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 Photograph: Rod Williams/Alamy

Rebuilt in 1672 after the Great Fire, and a survivor of the Blitz, London’s oldest and most magical livery hall is tucked away off Black Friars Lane, a narrow cobbled street tilting to the Thames, tyrannised by angry cyclists. A dark passage guarded by golden unicorns leads into a courtyard with vivid, custard-yellow façades. Having previously been part of the grocers’ guild, the apothecaries were incorporated by royal charter in 1617, evolving into the pharmacists of the day. The eastern range, containing the Great Hall, is the oldest part. At Open House Weekend each September (and on occasional tours), you can visit the parlour and see the society’s array of drug jars; the whole complex has something of the master wizard’s lair about it. Underneath the Great Hall was once an “elaboratory”, where apothecaries concocted their unguents, vomit cakes and elixirs. One infallible 17th-century cure for depression begins “take 40 or 50 swallows when they are ready to fly from their nests, bruise them to pulp in a mortar with feathers and all, [and add] three pints of strong white wine”. It’s a wonder they stayed in business so long.
• Apothecaries’ Hall, Black Friars Lane, EC4

Crossbones Garden, Southwark

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 Photograph: Simon Balson/Alamy

The denizens of Southwark are remembered in this wild garden, once a pauper’s burial ground and now a shrine to the outcast dead, much written about by local poet John Constable. Colourful ribbons are twined around rusty railings commemorating both the faceless, forgotten poor of centuries past and more recent losses. Among the flowers, photographs and poems, a brown plaque states unambiguously “in medieval times, this was an unconsecrated graveyard for prostitutes”, channelling the Elizabethan topographer John Stow who, in 1598, mentioned “an [unconsecrated] plot of ground, called the singlewoman’s churchyard ... far from the parish church” for Winchester Geese (medieval prostitutes). Southwark Cathedral, once the parish church of St Mary Overie, doesn’t seem particularly far away, it has to be said but this could, nonetheless, be what Stow was talking about. The corpses and bones, excavated by the Museum of London in the 1990s and dating from late Georgian and early Victorian times, perhaps represent the continuation of a medieval burial tradition of the dispossessed. Whatever the truth, it’s a rare oasis in the thick of Southwark to remember the dead, commune with the living, and contemplate one’s own mortality in a breathless urban world.
• Crossbones Garden, Redcross Way, SE1

Dr Matthew Green is a writer, historian and broadcaster and the author of London: A Travel Guide Through Time, published by Penguin on 18 June 2015. He is also the director of Unreal City Audio, which stages tours of historic London

• This article was amended on 9 June 2015. John Constable is not a 19th century poet. He is a contemporary poet and author of The Southwark Mysteries.

Contributed by Matthew Green, www.theguardian.com