Twitter phenomenon to rival Chicago’s Rat Hole
UPDATE January 31st, 2024: The Richmond Gun Hole has been filled with cement by the city after several residents complain.
Original reporting below:
Communication on Twitter for the people of Richmond is once again thriving. The art of microblogging activities in Richmond has become a fun pastime, with accounts that have vibrant real-life personalities like @RVADirt, @VCUPav, and @BlackLiq.
The website Twitter.com (sometimes referred to as “X”) has become a much worse website since Elon Musk bought it without much of a business plan in mind. They’re removing checkmarks from verified users who are public figures or work for news organizations and then selling them to users who pay a monthly fee.
Despite the lack of credibility, users still turn out exciting niche content. The best example is this tweet about the Richmond Gun Hole from @brockomole, who tweeted an impression of a revolver in a concrete sidewalk, calling it the Richmond Gun Hole. This post was viewed over a million times with over 34,000 likes. Gun Hole spins-off of the trend was inspired from the Chicago Rat Hole which was a concrete impression of a rat. The Chicago Rat Hole is especially popular among the queer community on Twitter.
I decided to visit the site of this viral post, which was on a block in Richmond’s Fan District between two restaurants with outdoor patios. I had seen the impression before but had never thought much about it.
I arrived shortly before midnight on a Friday night, and I saw the user who made the viral post standing around. He lived nearby, but not directly in front of the impression. He said that a friend bet him a case of beer if he could make his post viral.
An altar was quickly put up with glass jar candles. I placed an offering of a miniature figurine from My Neighbor Totoro that was from my pocket. Then came other offerings, including a battery, condom, crystal, and 3 pills of Wellbutrin. Later, some spare change was thrown in.
Immediately after this altar was crafted, people began wondering about the candles set up. There was a house party on the same block. Seemingly intoxicated partygoers came by to pay their respects. Someone drove by and yelled, “R.I.P.”
Shortly after midnight, an ambulance arrived, and dozens of people came out of the house that was holding the party. I was told that a person had lost consciousness. This ended my night at the Richmond Gun Hole. A bad omen near the Gun Hole; however, I spoke to the guys who threw the party and they said that he had recovered and that he just smoked too much.
When I returned the next day to see if the alter had been still been intact only to discover that next objects have replaced them. There were two people taking pictures and posing infront of the new alter.
They said that the owner of the house swept up the objects because he wanted people to see the Gun Hole. They also said that he had lived there for 20 years and the Gun Hole had been there before he moved in.
I spoke to the person who was living in the house directly in front of the Gun Hole. It was apparent that he was not the same person that those people spoke to. He was staying at the house and was a friend of the owners. He was not aware that more objects were placed there within the last hour. He also wasn’t aware that the impression on the concrete was in the shape of a gun.
Unfortunately, the owners were not available. According to Redfin, the house is the oldest building on the block, built in 1875. The owners recently moved after the house was sold last year.
The origins of the Gun Hole remain unknown, but it has existed for years prior. People who have lived near there for a few years say that it predates their residence. The imprint resembles a revolver with a long barrel, like a modern Ruger Blackhawk or a Peacemaker from the 1800s, just like the house. Or it could simply be from a toy pistol.
While I was writing this article, fellow RVA Mag writer Wyatt Gordon asked me about the exact location. Unfortunately, I was sworn to secrecy on the exact location, but that didn’t stop him from finding it anyway. Please be mindful of the neighborhood if anyone figures out the location.
Twitter remains a chaotic space that creates random viral events even under the lackluster management. Even though there are awful accounts that post Hitler content on a regular basis, advertisers that sell scams, and accounts that shadow banned for conflicting with Elon Musk’s views. An example would be Jimmie Lee Jarvis’s joke post about attending an Andy Ngo event in Henrico.
Ngo decided that the post from Jarvis was a bomb threat and lobbied to have the account banned. Meanwhile the event host and WRVA personality John Reid went to the radio airwaves to call for Jarvis’s arrest which a Henrico Fire Marshall did file and the charges are still ongoing. In the meantime, the amount of quality posters in Richmond have diminished by one.
If Jarvis was still on Twitter, then he would probably have a blast posting about the Gun Hole.
