Our Impressions of Richmond

We really enjoyed the time we spent in Richmond. The smaller-sized town was easy to get around. People were extremely friendly and didn’t seem to be in a great hurry. This is not our experience in many locations! It was very interesting to tie things we leaned in Zanesville, Ohio into what we saw in Richmond, specifically the National Highway and the Madonna of the Road statue.

Attractions

Glen Miller Park in Richmond. When we saw the Glen Miller name on the park, we thought of the band director, but no! When we were talking with a local person at the museum, she said the term “glen” referred to a group of trees, and the property was owned by a man named Miller! The park itself has miles of walking/hiking/biking trails.

Levi and Catherine Coffin House Museum in Fountain City is recognized as the “Grand Central Station” of the Underground Railroad. Levi and Catherine Coffin were responsible for helping more than 3,500 former slaves escape to freedom in the North. You can take a guided tour of the house and yard.

Madonna of the Trail in Richmond is one of twelve Madonna of the Trail statutes which were erected along the National Road by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The one in Richmond is at the entrance of the Glen Miller Park.

National Road, now U.S. 40, is the Main Street through Richmond. After being in Zanesville and going to the National Road and Zane Grey Museum, we know a lot more about the National Road. It was interesting to spend time driving it in different locations!

Wayne County Historical Museum is a jam-packed museum!! We had a chance to talk with the director of the museum. She was a wonderfully passionate woman who obviously put her heart and soul into the quality of the museum and the artifacts. One of the more unique things in the museum was a mummy!!! It was a fun museum.

Food and Drink

El Broncho Mexican Restaurant in Richmond seemed to be a local favorite. All of the cars except ours had Indiana license plates! The burritos were big enough to bring home and have as a second meal! Now that is a great deal!

Pizza King in Fountain City is a casual, local pizza restaurant. The pizza was good, the staff was friendly. What made this restaurant even more interesting to us is the close proximity to the Levi and Catherine Coffin House and the fact tit was built on the site of Levi Coffin’s store! One of the stories we were told on the tour was hat Levi would leave the house in the morning and tell Catherine if she needed him, just ring the dinner bell and he would come right home (about ½ block from their house). This just led to a little more mystique for the pizza restaurant.

Sweet Blessing Bakery in Richmond is a small local bakery in downtown Richmond. The pastries were excellent!

Home Base: The Campground

For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Except for water, electric and sewer rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers!

We stayed on site 52 at the Richmond Holiday KOA. The park was clean and well-maintained. The staff was very accommodating. Simple check in. Our pull through site was a FHU (water-electric-sewer) on level gravel. Most sites have some grass between them. 30 and 50 amp service was available. There was good Verizon cellphone coverage and a good open sky for our satellite dish.

Fun Facts

• Aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright lived in Richmond’s Starr District as boys. Wilbur attended Richmond High School, where he completed the requirements for a high school degree.
• The National Road, now U.S. 40, is the Main Street through Richmond.
• Richmond was settled by Friends (Quakers) who moved to Indiana from North Carolina.
• Richmond High School was home to the first public high school orchestra in the nation. It was organized by Will Earhart in 1900.
• The song “Stardust” was first recorded by Hoagy Carmichael at the Gennett Recording Studio in Richmond.
• Richmond is the only place in Indiana where you can view Egyptian mummies. With its two mummies, one at the Wayne County Historical Museum and the other at Earlham College’s Joseph Moore Museum, Richmond is said to have the most mummies per capita of any city in North America.
• Richmond native, C. Francis Jenkins, is recognized as the inventor of the first motion picture projector and was a pivotal inventor in early television.
• Barry Manilow began his career playing piano at the Holiday Inn in Richmond, Indian.

	Richmond
Population:	35,479
Founded:	1806
Elevation:	978 ft.
Average Income:	$61,028
Average Housing:	$376,136
Average Age:	39 yrs.

Website: https://www.richmondindiana.gov/

Summary

Richmond is a quiet, small town. There were lots of things to do, lots of places to go for a walk and lots of local restaurants. If you are passing through the area, I would suggest stopping for at least a day or two!

Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!

Your partners in travel,
Kathryn and Dave
RVing Nomads

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• We have visited each town, attraction and restaurant we are writing about. • No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement. • AI has not been used to write any of the content of this blog. • All the photos in this blog were taken by Dave or Kathryn Harrington.