Oregon Hill

The Henrico County town of Sydney, laid out here in 1817, was slow to develop. Oregon Hill, a working-class Richmond neighborhood just east of Belvidere Street, expanded westward across the county line to this area during the 1850s. Many white laborers, including European immigrants, and a smaller number of free African American workers settled here, attracted by affordable housing near the city's numerous factories. Richmond annexed this neighborhood in 1867. Philanthropist Grace Arents contributed buildings for educational, religious, and social institutions between 1890 and 1912. The Oregon Hill Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.