Historical Highway Markers

Wickham-Valentine House

SA-100

Attorney John Wickham (1763-1839) lived at this location beginning in 1790. A prominent lawyer, he helped defend Aaron Burr against treason charges in 1807. Alexander Parris designed this neoclassical house built here for Wickham in 1812. Wickham's family, including second wife Elizabeth and nineteen children, lived here until 1853. More than fifteen enslaved African Americans worked in the house. Entrepreneur Mann S. Valentine II (1824-1892) purchased the property in 1882 and displayed his archaeological and ethnographic collections here. In 1898, the house was opened as the Valentine Museum.

Department of Historic Resources, 2012

See a problem? Report it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov.

Click to View Full Image

DHR could use your help! We don't have a recent image of this marker. If you have one that you'd like to submit for inclusion on this site, please send it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov.



References/Bibliographic Citation:

Marie Tyler-McGraw, At the Falls: Richmond, Virginia and Its People (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1994); Jane Webb Smith, “The Wickham Home in Richmond: A Neoclassical Splendor Restored,” The Magazine Antiques (February 1999); Valentine Richmond History Center, The Wickham House (Charlotte: C. Harrison Conroy, 2007)