{"nrhp_refnum":"06000349","name":"Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway Car Barn","other_names":["Vdhr #127-6171"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1620 Brook Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.56029666200004,"lon":-77.44646475999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-05-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1907 steel-framed, T-plan car barn at 1620 Brook Road, northwest of downtown Richmond, Virginia, built to service electric passenger cars of the Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway.","why_significant":"It is one of only two surviving buildings from the interurban electric railway that ran between Richmond and Ashland from 1907 to 1938. The line used innovative technology, including high-voltage cars and a concrete viaduct. The barn also represents early twentieth century industrial architecture, with its steel structure, Fink truss roof and corrugated metal cladding.","narrative":"Built in 1907 on a triangular lot along Brook Road, this utilitarian car barn once serviced the electric passenger cars of the Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway. Its steel frame supports a gable roof carried on Fink trusses, clad in corrugated steel, and large openings at each end let cars roll in along rails still set in the concrete floor. The main space held six cars, and a wing housed the blacksmith and machine shop. A transformer station was added in the 1920s, and later changes in the 1970s occurred when the building was used for truck repair. The railway, backed by Frank Jay Gould, used unusually high voltage and a large concrete viaduct, and ran between Richmond and Ashland from 1907 to 1938. The barn and the heavily altered terminal are the only surviving buildings from the line. It was listed for its link to this innovative interurban railroad and as an example of early twentieth century industrial architecture.","period_of_significance":"1907-1938","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Currently in commercial use (business, warehouse); the owners plan a rehabilitation with storage and office space using historic tax credits.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.30209-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/6832/41683247/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/06000349.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000349/1670c1b0d8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000349/1670c1b0d8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Morgan Riley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RichmondChesapeakeBayCarBarn.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:RichmondChesapeakeBayCarBarn.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/41683247","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_and_Chesapeake_Bay_Railway_Car_Barn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16899283"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/richmond-and-chesapeake-bay-railway-car-barn-06000349/"}