Download or read book Historic Disasters of Richmond written by Walter S. Griggs Jr. and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2016-04-06 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richmond has had its share of man-made and natural calamities throughout its illustrious history. In 1811, fire destroyed the Richmond Theatre on Broad Street, tragically claiming seventy-two lives in one of the worst urban disasters in American history. As Union forces approached Richmond in the final months of the Civil War, Confederate troops ignited the city in flames, leaving scars still visible today. The international Spanish flu epidemic did not spare the city in the early twentieth century. The worst airplane crash in Virginia history occurred near Byrd Airport in 1961. Local author Walter S. Griggs tells these stories and more as he traces the harrowing history of Richmond's most famous disasters.