Highland Springs, Virginia

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Edmund Sewell Read founded the community of Highland Springs in the 1890's as a streetcar suburb of Richmond on the Seven Pines Railway Company's electric street railway line between the city and the National Cemetery at Seven Pines. Read came to the area from Boston in hopes of finding a suitable climate for his ailing wife. The high altitude and natural springs in the area made it a suitable choice for the Read family, and apparently, an inspiration for the new name.

Read bought a 1000 acre (4 km²) tract of land and divided it into lots. He laid out along the main street which was the Nine Mile Road, cross streets named in alphabetical order after plants, beginning from the west: Ash, Beech, Cedar, Daisy, Elm, Fern, Grove, Holly, Ivy, Juniper, Kalmia, Linden, Maple, Oak, Pine, Quince, Rose, and Spruce.

In Highland Springs, one block south of and parallel to the Nine Mile Road, was named for its founder, Edmund Sewell Read. His large brick home is situated on the south side of Nine Mile Road between Grove and Holly, with Read Street to its rear. Today it serves as a medical office complex.

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