Ginter Park Real Estate
Major Lewis W. Ginter, wealthy Richmond industrialist and entrepreneur, conceived and planned Ginter Park in the late 19th century. Ginter, the founder of the American Tobacco Company, visited Melbourne, Australia where he was impressed by the business men’s retreating home to the country at the end of each work day.
Thus was born Ginter’s dream for a Richmond suburb where according to legend, a gentleman could ride to and from work without the sun’s glare in his face. Ginter began implementation of his state-of-the-art community plan by purchasing several hundred acres of farm land in northern Henrico county.
He designed residential subdivisions organized in an extended grid pattern with varied fine single-family dwellings. He improved the existing road surfaces on Laburnum and Melrose Avenues with crushed stone from quarries on Hermitage Road. Then Ginter turned his attention to constructing new roads according to the plan with tile sewer lines laid in the roadbeds.
Ginter enhanced the beauty of the new community landscaping with thousands of deciduous shade trees and miles of hedges. Newly drilled artesian wells provided fresh drinking water for the community.
As if these enticements to new residents were not enough, Ginter negotiated the extension of the first electric trolley system, established in Richmond in 1888, to Ginter Park in 1895. For a nickel residents of Ginter Park could travel either to or from downtown Richmond in fifteen-minutes. Ginter Park features a variety of late 19th and early 20th century architectural styles ranging from the modest builders’ cottages to large Colonial Revival mansions. Other styles include: Tudor Revival, Spanish Colonial, Bungalow, American Foursquare, modified Queen Anne, and Shingle Style.