Shockoe Slip, Richmond

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Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom, which lie along Shockoe Creek, comprise the city's oldest commercial areas. This area, along the canals and the James River, was home to numerous mills and warehouses for tobacco and other goods. Unfortunately the retreating Confederate Army burned the city of Richmond in 1865 to prevent anything usable from falling into Union hands.

Shockoe Slip Historic District now is full of restaurants, cafes, shops, offices, and residences following preservation efforts in the 1970s and 1980s.

Shockoe Bottom contains much of the land included in Colonel William Mayo's 1737 plan of Richmond, making it one of the city's oldest neighborhoods.

This lively restored neighborhood was once home to the city's largest commercial trading district and was part of an area devastated by fire during the Civil War. Today 19th-century warehouses contain sophisticated restaurants, lively nightclubs and elegant shops.

When the sun sets, Shockoe Slip transforms itself into a one-of-a-kind night spot. Here the wail of a saxophone and the pounding of a dance club beat combine with the laughter of a back-room comedy club and the clippety-clop of a horse-drawn carriage.