St John's Church
VA - Richmond, Virginia, USA
2401 E Broad St, Richmond, VA 23223, USA
CHURCH
VISITOR INFORMATION
TICKET REQUIRED
Guided church tours operate on a seasonal weekly schedule. Admission is ticketed, with separate rates for tours and special programs; check the official calendar before visiting.
Current hours, admission, restrooms and parking are not published; check with the church directly before visiting.
SITE FEATURES
Exhibits & Artifacts
Gift Shop
Guided Tours
Performances & Programs
Surviving Structures
Worship, holidays and any announced historical performances may concentrate activity. Church-sightseeing annual peak months unconfirmed.
April-May or October for a specifically confirmed historic-church visit and milder Richmond walks. Arrange sightseeing around worship and verify any separate historical performance booking.
HISTORIC SITES NEARBY
Nearby Historic Sites
miles
Landmark
WHO WAS HERE
6
Thomas Jefferson
Patrick Henry
Peyton Randolph
Edmund Pendleton
Benjamin Harrison V
Thomas Nelson Jr.
About St John's Church
Henrico Parish Church moved to Richmond in 1741 on land donated by William Byrd II. The builder of the new church was Col. Richard Randolph (1686–1748), great-uncle to Thomas Jefferson. The original church building was completed on June 10, 1741. It remains as the transept of the current church, built along east-west lines. In 1772, a forty-foot-square extension was added to the northern side, orienting the church towards the south, to which end the altar was moved.
The original 1741 wooden church survives as an active Episcopal parish and historic site on Richmond’s Church Hill. Restored interior spaces, burial grounds, monuments, gardens, and conserved architectural fabric support worship, tours, and reenactments within the protected St. John’s Church Historic District.
History happened here at St John's Church
The Virginia colonial legislative assembly, the House of Burgesses, was dismissed by the royal governor due to tensions that led up to the American Revolutionary War. The Burgesses met as a provisional government in the First Virginia Convention in Williamsburg. Since the governor had loyalist forces in the vicinity of the capital of Williamsburg, it was decided to hold the next convention in Richmond. On March 23, 1775, the Second Virginia Convention was opened at the church. The President of the Convention was Peyton Randolph, who was also the Speaker of the House of Burgesses.
Under a Resolution offered by Richard Henry Lee, the House of Burgesses on May 15, 1776 resolved that "the delegates appointed to represent this colony in General Congress be instructed to propose to that respectable body to declare the united Colonies free and independent states."
PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE
PEOPLE WHO DIED HERE
PEOPLE AT REST HERE
Jaquelin Ambler
George Wythe
EXTERNAL LINKS
saintjohnsrichmond.org: https://www.saintjohnsrichmond.org/history
Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/va0578/
The parish history dates completion of the church to 10 June 1741 and Patrick Henry's address to the Second Virginia Convention in March 1775. Library of Congress HABS documentation supports the historic building record. Neither key event is dated 1772 by these sources.
Accessed 2026-09-30