James Galloway was my 11th grade english teacher at Menchville High in Newport News. He had many pictures of the home he was born in.By this time in 1977 the home had been demolished many years earlier. He had a section of the iron that made up the exterior of the castle.
when they started working on the costar building they uncovered multiple underground canal passages and tunnels so it is very possible he had a tunnel from the house to the river. another cool fact is that camble's hill had a train tunnel through it like church hill does and this tunnel was for the shortest railroad in north america at the time. Unfortunately Gamble's Hill is a barren stretch having been bisected by the expressway now it is mostly parking lots with a few businesses. maybe one day something good will come of that area of the city
Hi Maggie! Glad you enjoyed! The city’s permit office unfortunately didn’t have any material related to the castle, although land records does still have the deeds (I believe one of Mary Wingfield Scott’s two books that I cited in this video gives land records’ book and page numbers to locate the deeds…you can pull up PDF’s of both her books online for free). I’m not sure if General Charles Heningsen has any publicly accessible papers or diaries from his stay at the castle, but that may be worth pursuing. I couldn’t locate any of Pratt’s papers that discuss the castle. I searched at UVA and at several museums and libraries in Richmond, to no avail. He was evidently a very private man. A good deal of my research for this video came from contemporary newspapers. The articles cited throughout give descriptions of the castle’s floor plan, decor scheme, and other valuable information. You can access those articles for free through the Library of Virginia’s site or with a Newspapers.com account. Finding detailed information on Pratt’s Castle is sadly not easy, not least of all because it’s just largely forgotten. There have got to be more photos, documents, etc. out there somewhere, but finding them is the trick. That’s the thing which both fascinates and infuriates me most about projects like this…you have to really dig in and play Detective with few, if any clues to go off of. Good luck though! I’d love to hear about anything you might find!
Not to my knowledge I’m afraid. Given Pratt’s vocation, I’d say there may well have been such images produced of the castle, although they are now either undiscovered or lost.
Glass panels...on the ceiling? That's crazy. & What kinda paint did they use that long ago that could paint over sheet metal, make it look like stone & not come off? I painted my metal porch furniture with metal paint & mess started peeling in 6 months 😤
The only information left out of this content was the fact that the Gamble family purchased this property after the death of Pratt who fell from a ladder in the house.
Do you have a source for that information? It’s known that Pratt purchased the land from the Gambles, and it’s also known that Pratt died well over a decade after he sold the castle. If there’s a reliable source which contradicts my research, I’ll be happy to post an addendum in the video’s description.
I live just outside of Richmond and had never heard of Pratt's Castle. Fascinating video, thanks for posting.
Same here, I even worked in downtown Richmond for 20 years and never heard of it.
Loved this, thanks for making it.
Thank you for your work on this video!
Thanks, great job.
Thank you so much for help me
James Galloway was my 11th grade english teacher at Menchville High in Newport News. He had many pictures of the home he was born in.By this time in 1977 the home had been demolished many years earlier. He had a section of the iron that made up the exterior of the castle.
when they started working on the costar building they uncovered multiple underground canal passages and tunnels so it is very possible he had a tunnel from the house to the river. another cool fact is that camble's hill had a train tunnel through it like church hill does and this tunnel was for the shortest railroad in north america at the time. Unfortunately Gamble's Hill is a barren stretch having been bisected by the expressway now it is mostly parking lots with a few businesses. maybe one day something good will come of that area of the city
Great Job on this story!
Hi there! What books or other sources would you recommend to someone looking to do deeper research on the house? Thanks so much for this content!
Hi Maggie! Glad you enjoyed!
The city’s permit office unfortunately didn’t have any material related to the castle, although land records does still have the deeds (I believe one of Mary Wingfield Scott’s two books that I cited in this video gives land records’ book and page numbers to locate the deeds…you can pull up PDF’s of both her books online for free).
I’m not sure if General Charles Heningsen has any publicly accessible papers or diaries from his stay at the castle, but that may be worth pursuing. I couldn’t locate any of Pratt’s papers that discuss the castle. I searched at UVA and at several museums and libraries in Richmond, to no avail. He was evidently a very private man.
A good deal of my research for this video came from contemporary newspapers. The articles cited throughout give descriptions of the castle’s floor plan, decor scheme, and other valuable information. You can access those articles for free through the Library of Virginia’s site or with a Newspapers.com account.
Finding detailed information on Pratt’s Castle is sadly not easy, not least of all because it’s just largely forgotten. There have got to be more photos, documents, etc. out there somewhere, but finding them is the trick. That’s the thing which both fascinates and infuriates me most about projects like this…you have to really dig in and play Detective with few, if any clues to go off of. Good luck though! I’d love to hear about anything you might find!
Thanks for the video!! Always knew about the ethyl corp thing but it’s really sad that the whole neighborhood had to be ruined due to bad decisions
i love the history of my city
Are there any pictures of construction?
Not to my knowledge I’m afraid. Given Pratt’s vocation, I’d say there may well have been such images produced of the castle, although they are now either undiscovered or lost.
Glass panels...on the ceiling? That's crazy. & What kinda paint did they use that long ago that could paint over sheet metal, make it look like stone & not come off? I painted my metal porch furniture with metal paint & mess started peeling in 6 months 😤
The only information left out of this content was the fact that the Gamble family purchased this property after the death of Pratt who fell from a ladder in the house.
Do you have a source for that information? It’s known that Pratt purchased the land from the Gambles, and it’s also known that Pratt died well over a decade after he sold the castle. If there’s a reliable source which contradicts my research, I’ll be happy to post an addendum in the video’s description.
LoL, that's not a castle that's an old black man's house I don't know who this white dude is