Shockoe Valley, Historic district in Richmond, United States.

Shockoe Valley runs along the James River between two hillsides and includes buildings from Richmond's original 1700s city plan. The area displays a mix of architectural styles from different periods of the city's growth and rebuilding.

The area began as a trading and production center and shifted its economic purpose several times over the centuries. After major destruction during the 1860s war, the district was rebuilt with new commercial buildings.

Before the Civil War, 15th Street was called Wall Street because more than 69 slave dealers and auction houses operated in the surrounding blocks, making the district the country's second-largest slave trading center after New Orleans. Archaeological work at the former Lumpkin's Jail began in 2006. The 1909 fountain honors "one who loved animals."

Shockoe Valley lies just east of downtown Richmond along the James River, between Shockoe Hill and Church Hill; the Canal Walk and 14th Street Bridge mark the river edge. The 1995 flood wall protects the district, but Hurricane Gaston flooded Shockoe Creek's basin in 2004. Belgian block paving, exposed when asphalt was removed during restoration, makes some streets uneven underfoot.

Excavations begun in 2006 at the former site of Lumpkin's Jail, a slave holding pen in the Shockoe Bottom section, uncovered foundations and artifacts from the trade that made 15th Street the antebellum "Wall Street" of Richmond.