Exploring Richmond: The Byrd Park Pump House

The Byrd Park Pump House, originally called the New Pump House, was built in the 1880s to house the Richmond city waterworks, which it did from 1883 until 1924. Built in the Gothic Revival style with local granite, it drew water from the James and pumped it uphill to the Byrd Park Reservoir, the city’s main water supply. It also served as a popular gathering place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with an open-air dance hall above the equipment room.

“The Pump House had the reputation of being one of the only buildings in the country designed and used as both a public utilities building and a social hall,” according to Friends of the Pump House, a volunteer-led non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting, and restoring the historic Byrd Park Pump House.

The city slated the Pump House for demolition in the 1950s, but sold it to First Presbyterian Church for one dollar instead. Ownership of the building eventually reverted back to the City of Richmond, where it remains today. 

The Virginia Tourism Commission says they hope the pump house “will one day make a grand return as the new home for the park system visitor’s center or a James River museum. It may also be a learning center, host weddings, parties, meetings, events and the batteau rides on the Kanawha Canal could again be a feature.”