- Brief History of Jahnke Road, Richmond, Virginia 23225 -
& our Community Development Association
Jahnke Road, (pronounced similarly to bank, tank,
yank and thank - but with the "j" sound) is believed to get its name from a
prominent Richmonder named Albert Franz Jahnke.
According to local history and several
articles in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Albert Jahnke, a Prussian watchmaker, moved to Richmond
around 1848 after the death of his wife in Castle Garden, New York whom he came to America
with from Germany.
Albert Jahnke, who was an optician as well as a
watchmaker and manufacturer of jewelry in his store on East Main Street in Richmond, soon married Miss Mary Chalkley of Chesterfield County and
finally settled at "Good Hope Farm" around 1870. Their estate expanded to
include "Shady Echo" which ran from Forest Hill Avenue across the railroad
tracks into, what was then, Chesterfield County. The current Jahnke Road is believed to
run along or through their property which was over 960 acres at one time.
Around 1961, a large portion of Jahnke Road and environs, from the current CSX
Railroad tracks to Chippenham Parkway,
was considered for incorporation into the City of Richmond. This approximate 2.5 mile
stretch of Jahnke had been often called, "part of "the annexed area"",
and remained rather pastoral and rural in nature and appearance for a number of years.
However, in the mid 1970’s, several apartment complexes, expansion of Chippenham
Hospital, the building of a midsize
shopping plaza on Jahnke Road, the opening of the Powhite Expressway and other factors,
has made this area, a most desirable place to "live" in the City of Richmond.
Further
development along Jahnke and Bliley Roads, and along Forest Hill Avenue,
places Jahnke Road among one of the "Best Places" to live in south Richmond. This development has included
the opening of the 2nd "strip mall"; the Powhite park; more apartment
communities in Richmond and nearby Chesterfield County; communities dedicated to senior
citizens, and the building of the newest public school in Richmond (after approximately 20
years, and having obtain the property for a school some years before that).
See our
"Jewels by the Roadside"
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