Richmond Haunts Short

Monumental Church and the 1811 Richmond Theatre Fire

December 28, 2025 02:42 Richmond, Virginia

Episode notes

About this episode

Monumental Church stands on the site of the Richmond Theatre fire of December 26, 1811, one of the deadliest urban disasters in early American history. The building was created as both a church and a memorial to those who died.

This Short introduces the tragedy behind one of Richmond’s most distinctive landmarks and the haunting atmosphere that later stories have attached to the site. The historical loss remains the center of the story; supernatural reports are treated as later accounts rather than evidence. That distinction makes room for ghost lore while respecting the real people memorialized beneath and around the church.