{"nrhp_refnum":"69000322","name":"Exchange Building","other_names":["Merchant's Exchange Building","The Exchange"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15-19 W. Bank St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Petersburg (Independent City)","county":"Petersburg","state":"VA","lat":37.23205079400003,"lon":-77.40540952399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-06-11","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1971-11-11","areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Greek Revival commercial building at 15-19 W. Bank Street in Petersburg, Virginia, completed by 1841 as the Merchant's Exchange, with a Doric portico and a domed central room.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a fine model of the monumental Greek Revival commercial buildings that have become rare. It is also presented as an example of the civic pride of the ante-bellum period. It was built for local businessmen to display tobacco and cotton and to hold auctions and sales.","narrative":"Built by 1841 at 15-19 W. Bank Street in Petersburg, the Exchange Building is a freely rendered Greek Revival structure with a finely executed Doric portico. It rises two stories above a high basement, with second-floor windows set into the frieze of the entablature. The entrance facade has five bays, though the portico shelters only the central three. A hipped roof carries a large shallow dome with a lantern. Inside, a circular domed room sits at the center, its dome resting on an entablature carried by piers, with a gallery behind them and a simple iron railing. The building came out of a push by local businessmen, including tobacco manufacturer David Dunlop, who incorporated the Petersburg Exchange in 1839 to display tobacco and cotton and to hold auctions and sales. A Mr. Berrien of New York supplied the design. It later served as a bank and then a police court, yet the interior survived without serious alteration. It is valued as a rare monumental Greek Revival commercial building.","period_of_significance":"1841","architect_builder":"Design supplied by a Mr. Berrien of New York","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the City of Petersburg; used by the Domestic Relations and Police Court departments. Condition marked fair, with the interior surviving without serious alteration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.301363-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/6825/41682526/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000322.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000322/1135b21ccd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000322/1135b21ccd-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exchange_Building_(Petersburg,_Virginia).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exchange_Building_(Petersburg,_Virginia).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"80004314","name":"Petersburg Old Town Historic District (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/petersburg-old-town-historic-district-additional-documentation-80004314/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682526","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_Building_(Petersburg,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5419562"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/petersburg/exchange-building-69000322/"}