Wilfred Emory Cutshaw (1838-1907)

SA-110

Wilfred Cutshaw graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1858 and served as a lieutenant colonel of artillery in the Confederate army. As Richmond's city engineer (1873-1907), he instituted an innovative system of civic planning that transformed the cityscape. Cutshaw oversaw the construction of numerous schools, armories, markets, and a new city hall. He established a program of urban forestry, reflected in modern Richmond’s tree-lined streets. In William Byrd Park, one of several city parks he designed, Cutshaw combined the practicality of a new municipal water works and reservoir with scenic promenades, roadways, and lakes.

Department of Historic Resources, 2015

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

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:

Selden Richardson, “Cutshaw, Wilfred Emory,” Dictionary of Virginia Biography, vol. 3. Selden Richardson, “’Architect of the City’: Wilfred Emory Cutshaw (1838-1907) and Municipal Architecture in Richmond” (M.A. Thesis, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1996). T. Tyler Potterfield, Nonesuch Place: A History of the Richmond Landscape (Charleston: the History Press, 2009), 110-111. Wilfred Emory Cutshaw, “Trees of the City” (Richmond City Engineer’s Report, 1904).