Short Pump – Richmond’s “Frontier”

When one thinks of the frontier, the first images that come to mind are cowboys and saloons, gunfights and gold prospectors.  While these are all amusing to imagine, you aren’t likely to find them in Short Pump.  Now considered the far West End of Richmond, this area has long served as the wild west of the more “civilized” city to the east.  Generally considered to be located at the intersections of Broad Street, Pouncey Tract Road and Three Chopt Road, it is only in the last decade that real industry and commerce have sprung to life in the rolling hills of Short Pump.

The village was named for an unusual water pump found under the porch of a tavern built in the area in the early 1800’s.  The structure is a believed to have been built facing Three Notched Road (Now Three Chopt), in western Henrico County, and remains a fixture in local legend.  The community is now a far cry from the dusty roadside stop it used to be.  Although historically the site doesn’t hold much significance, it has been visited by a few notables traveling from Richmond to western parts of Virginia, including Thomas Jefferson, Stonewall Jackson and the Marquis de Lafayette.

What started as a rural backwater has become one of the most heavily developed and prosperous communities in the Metro Richmond area.  Beginning in the early 1930’s, the only real landmarks to be found in Short Pump were a garage, a grocery store and a general store.  The 1990’s saw the first true burst of development when it was decided that Broad Street needed to be widened to accommodate the traffic brought in by a newly built Wal-Mart.  Sadly, this saw the end of several of the older businesses that had persevered over several decades as room had to be cleared for the expansion.

This was only the beginning of what would prove to be a startling surge of commerce for the area.  In 2003 Short Pump Town Center, a massive open-air shopping mail, opened, attracted records numbers of visitors to the site and paving the way for even more businesses – grocery stores, car dealerships, upscale restaurants, an expansive movie theater and a wide variety of others.  With the commerce came the people.  Short Pump is now home to some of the most well-to-do neighborhoods in the Richmond metro area.

Easy accessibility from I-64, Highway 288 and Broad Street have contributed to the growth of community, allowing for continued expansion and almost constant building.   The Innsbrook area, located just east of Short Pump, seems to have jump started the progress west.  As the Glen Allen area began to prosper, the need for growth demanded more available space and greater opportunities for commerce.  Largely disregarded in the past, Short Pump provided the area needed to meet those demands.  While an elaborate shopping mall, an expansive movie theater and fancy restaurants may not seem like the most fascinating of frontiers, the tremendous development of the area can rival that of any gold-mining town.

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