{"nrhp_refnum":"04000270","name":"Virginia Department of Highways Building","other_names":["State Highway Commission Building","127-0844-0001"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1401 E. Broad St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.53829639000003,"lon":-77.43047907799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-04-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story government office building at 1401 E. Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia, built 1939 for the Virginia Department of Highways to designs by Carneal, Johnston & Wright, with Virginia Engineering Company as contractor.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it reflects the state's expansive highway construction and maintenance mission (Criterion A). It is also presented as an elegant example of the Stripped Classicism style favored for government buildings in the 1930s and 1940s (Criterion C). It retains a high degree of integrity and is still used for its original purpose.","narrative":"Built in 1939 on East Broad Street in Richmond, this four-story, 82,000-square-foot office building was designed by Carneal, Johnston & Wright to bring the Virginia Department of Highways under one roof. The agency had grown rapidly after the 1932 Byrd Road Act gave it responsibility for about 35,900 miles of county roads, and its staff was scattered across several downtown offices. The Public Works Administration paid 45 percent of the cost. Steel and reinforced concrete construction is faced in limestone, Virginia greenstone and pink granite. An eighteen-pilaster colossal colonnade defines the Broad Street front, with bronze urns and stone eagles adding to the Stripped Classicism design. In 1940, Richmond citizens polled by Architectural Record named it the city's outstanding recent building. It is listed for its link to state highway work and for its architecture, and it remains the main offices of the Virginia Department of Transportation with a high degree of integrity.","period_of_significance":"1937-1939","architect_builder":"Carneal, Johnston & Wright, architects; Virginia Engineering Co., contractor","architectural_style":"Stripped Classicism/WPA Modern","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as the main offices of the Virginia Department of Transportation; periodically upgraded and connected by second-story pedestrian bridges to adjacent buildings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.148312-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/45/6832/41683245/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/04000270.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000270/9cc4b65d2a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000270/9cc4b65d2a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Morgan Riley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VirginiaDepartmentofHighwaysBuilding.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Morgan Riley</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VirginiaDepartmentofHighwaysBuilding.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"71000982","name":"James River and Kanawha Canal Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/james-river-and-kanawha-canal-historic-district-71000982/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683245","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Department_of_Highways_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16902766"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/virginia-department-of-highways-building-04000270/"}