{"nrhp_refnum":"05001226","name":"Henrico Theatre","other_names":["043-0287"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"305 E. Nine Mile Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Highland Springs","county":"Henrico County","state":"VA","lat":37.54585420600006,"lon":-77.32596521499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-11-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Art Deco movie theater at 305 East Nine Mile Road in Highland Springs, Henrico County, Virginia, built in 1938 of poured concrete and brick and designed by architect Edward F. Sinnott.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is locally significant under Criterion C for architecture, as the most prominent and sophisticated theater in Henrico County and its best example of Art Deco design. It was built with advanced features such as monolithic poured concrete, air conditioning and modern projection equipment. It was also nominated in a 1940 Architectural Record poll of notable recent Richmond-area architecture.","narrative":"Opened on April 25, 1938, this two-story movie theater in Highland Springs, Henrico County, was designed by Richmond architect Edward F. Sinnott in the Art Deco style. Its facade is monolithic poured concrete, with a recessed, taller center bay carrying the name \"Henrico\" above a clock and original marquee, flanked by rounded side bays with zigzag fluting. The side walls are brick, and the interior keeps much of its original ornamental plaster, gilded detailing and lounges with a nautical feel. The owners, Charles A. and B. N. Somma, sought the most modern theater in the Richmond area, equipping it with year-round air conditioning, a Simplex E-7 projector and neon facade lighting. Its design was meant to signal the promise of modernity for a then-rural, emerging suburban area. In 1940 it was among the buildings nominated in an Architectural Record poll of outstanding recent Richmond architecture. The theater is now vacant, with rehabilitation planned.","period_of_significance":"1938-1955","architect_builder":"Edward F. Sinnott","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Vacant/not in use, with rehabilitation planned; the interior is described as in good condition overall, with seats removed and most entrance doors boarded up.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.297448-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/19/6812/41681219/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/05001226.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05001226/dea4e9b1b3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05001226/dea4e9b1b3-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Crazyale","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henrico_theater.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Crazyale</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henrico_theater.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100002440","name":"Highland Springs Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/highland-springs-historic-district-100002440/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681219","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrico_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5715840"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/henrico-county/henrico-theatre-05001226/"}