The Convention Center station is where the Richmond region comes together. Located near the Convention Center on the GRTC Pulse bus route this area is a melting pot for events and conventions and local fare.
The Hippodrome Theater:
Hippodrome Theater, c. 1959 (The Valentine, Independent Order of St. Luke Collection)If you walk a couple blocks north on Second Street, you’ll discover one of the reasons why, in the 1920s, Richmond became known as “The Harlem of the South.” The Hippodrome Theater was built in 1914 as a vaudeville and movie venue, and became a major fixture of historic Jackson Ward. During its heyday in the first half of the 20th century, the Hippodrome hosted some of the country’s most preeminent African-American entertainers, including Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, James Brown and Richmond native Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Today, the Hippodrome continues to operate as a venue for special events, concerts and film and theatrical presentations. The 1907 Taylor Mansion next door, which was designed by renowned African-American architect John Lankford for the Rev. William Lee Taylor, is now a restaurant called The Speakeasy Grill. (528 N. Second St., 0.3 miles from Convention Center Eastbound GRTC Pulse Station, 0.4 miles from Convention Center Westbound GRTC Pulse Station.)
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