Richmond/The Fan

The Fan is a district in Richmond, Virginia. It is named The Fan because of the way the roads fan out to the west from N. Belvidere St.

It is easy to find a variety of boundaries that "define" the Fan, just ask a variety of Richmonders. Everyone will have a slightly different mental map. But roughly speaking, the Fan District is bounded to the east by Belvidere St (U.S. Route 1), to the west by The Boulevard (also called Arthur Ashe Blvd), to the north by Broad Street, and to the south by Cary Street.

West of the neighborhood is the Museum District/Carytown. To the south are the neighborhoods of Byrd Park, Randolph, and Oregon Hill. To the north is the Carver neighborhood. To its east is Downtown Richmond.

By car
From the south, take I-95 north. Take exit 74C to Broad Street. At the split, stay left toward Broad Street West, and then merge onto Broad Street.

From the north, take I-95 south. Take exit 79 for Arthur Ashe Boulevard (Route 161). Turn right at the stoplight. Continue to Broad Street (Route 33) and take a left on Broad St.

See
The fan is home to many historic homes, parks, and monuments, as well as the Monroe Park campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.



Parks
 * Triangle Parks – In four places in the Fan, the branching of the streets creates tringle shaped plots of land that are used by the city as small parks.
 * , in the midst of the VCU campus, was home to the Richmond Howetzers Monument, a monument to an artillery unit of the Confederate States of America. The statue was removed in 2020.
 * at Morris and Brunswick streets.
 * contains a children's playground.
 * at Park and Staurt streets. This small park contains a monument to the Pioneers who explored and settled the westward regions of the commonwealth.
 * at Park and Staurt streets. This small park contains a monument to the Pioneers who explored and settled the westward regions of the commonwealth.

Monument Avenue
 * J.E.B. Staurt - at Monument and Lombardy (Staurt Circle)
 * Robert E. Lee - at Monument and Allen. It was removed on September 8, 2021, in response to the George Floyd protests.
 * Jefferson Davis - at Monument and Davis
 * Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson - at Monument and Boulevard
 * Matthew Fountaine Muarry, who served in the Confederate Navy, but who is memorialized for his contributions to oceanic navigation and his invention of the torpedo - at Belmont St
 * Tennis star and humanitarian Arther Ashe - at Roseneath St.
 * Tennis star and humanitarian Arther Ashe - at Roseneath St.

Museums - The Fan and the adjacent Museum District contains some of Virginia's best museums

Buy
Although there are some great shops actually in The Fan (such as along Strawberry Street, near Park Avenue), the great shopping is in Carytown. Carytown is south of the bordering neighborhood, The Museum District, on Cary Street, west of Boulevard.

Drink
The Fan is replete with bars and restaurants, concentrated primarily on Robinson Street (two blocks east of The Boulevard), and along Main Street for the entire length of the Fan. Make sure you catch some great live music.

Sleep
There are no hotels directly in the Fan, but there are several just a couple blocks away in Downtown, such as at Franklin and Madison streets.