Maymont
Celebrating 100 Years of Nature and History
The Maymont Mansion is a centerpiece at Maymont. Built in 1893, the Mansion reopened in 2025 after two years of preservation and conservation.
The Gilded Age was a time during the late 1880s marked by rapid industrialization and economic growth. The city of Richmond was touched by the Gilded Age through James and Sallie Dooley, who created Maymont and lived there from 1893 to 1925. During that time, they built the Mansion, a 13,000-square-foot home on the highest ridge of the property overlooking the James River.
The couple bequeathed Maymont to Richmond to serve as a public park and museum so that everyone could enjoy the beautiful gardens, architecture, furnishings, and decorative arts that they had carefully assembled over years of travel and collecting.
Now 100 years later, Maymont is a magnificent 100-acre site with expansive gardens, an arboretum, a wildlife trail, a farm, and of course, the Mansion in all its glory.
Parke Richeson serves as executive director of the Maymont Foundation. “We are excited to share our 100th birthday with our community throughout 2026,” she says. “It’s hard to imagine Richmond without Maymont since it’s been part of our area for a century. We are celebrating all year and have hosted several remarkable events.”
Over its 100 years, Maymont has added different elements that reflect community needs:
- The Virginia Wildlife Trail brings visitors up close with Virginia native species, most of which are wildlife rescues, along a mile-long trail.
- Maymont Farm is home to goats, sheep, chickens, a donkey, cows, pigs, and a horse and offers hands-on animal encounters and insight into farm life.
- The Japanese and Italian gardens have been preserved in their original state from the Dooley period.
- The Robins Nature Center showcases the remarkable ecology of the James River and Chesapeake Bay watershed. It is the largest facility of its kind in central Virginia, with close to 30,000 gallons of aquaria filled with fish, turtles, reptiles and amphibians, plus two river otters.
“The Dooley legacy of gifting Maymont to Richmond was amazing, a huge public bequest,” Parke says. “The City of Richmond ran Maymont until 1975 when the Maymont Foundation was established to provide the professional expertise required to care for this precious property as well as raise funds to support that care.”
The Japanese Garden is one of the oldest public Japanese gardens on the East Coast and includes a magnificent waterfall.
In the 1950s, nature and wildlife became a major focus, boosted by a donation of animals from the Thalhimer family, which helped the mission expand to explore the entire natural ecosystem, shared by wildlife as well as farm and domesticated animals.
More recently, Maymont has become one of Richmond’s favorite gathering places. “The Richmond community loves to be outdoors, so they enjoy coming to Maymont to see the historic and natural features while experiencing a musical performance,” Parke says. Maymont recently partnered with the Richmond Symphony for a Mile of Music event featuring performances by four different ensembles across a one-mile route around Maymont’s gardens.
The Italian Garden features stonework, statuary, gazebos, fountains and, of course, beautiful flowers, shrubs, and trees.
More than one million visitors came to Maymont last year, with over 1.2 million expected in 2026. “We are admission-free to everyone every day, which is rare in today’s world,” Parke says. “I think of Maymont as a magical place where people are better off after they spend time here. I love watching people be blessed with this place, and I know it will continue for another 100 years.”
Maymont works closely with Angie Collins, senior vice president and private banker, and Matt Clarke, Chesterfield president. “All along the way, TowneBank has been so incredibly supportive and encouraging. I am so thrilled that Maymont can partner with TowneBank in so many ways,” Parke says.
Maymont can always use volunteers to help with the gardens, the animals, children’s programming, interpreting for mansion tours, and event support. For more information and to see how you can help, visit Maymont.org.