{"nrhp_refnum":"70000885","name":"Stearns Iron-Front Building","other_names":["Stearns Block"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1007-1013 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.537421452000046,"lon":-77.43532811899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-02-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story, fourteen-bay cast-iron-fronted commercial building at 1007-1013 East Main Street in the independent city of Richmond, Virginia, completed by 1869 for Franklin Stearns.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a splendid example of a cast-iron row and one of the most important surviving Richmond commercial buildings from the later nineteenth century. Its design, inspired by Venetian Renaissance palaces, makes maximum use of iron to create a nearly glass-fronted facade with slender, richly decorated supports.","narrative":"Located at 1007-1013 East Main Street in Richmond, this four-story commercial building has a cast-iron facade fourteen bays wide, measuring 107 feet wide by 64 feet deep, with side and rear walls of common bond brick. Franklin Stearns bought the lot in 1865 after the Farmer's Bank building burned during the Confederate evacuation of the city. By 1869 he had finished the new block, using ironwork purchased from Hayward, Bartlett of Baltimore. The facade features engaged Corinthian columns, arched windows with spiraling vine moldings, garland and rosebud keystones, and a deep Italianate entablature with ornate brackets. Two original sets of doors survive with their decoration intact. The design draws on Venetian Renaissance palaces while using iron to minimize solid wall and maximize glass. It was listed as a splendid example of a cast-iron row and one of Richmond's most important surviving late nineteenth-century commercial buildings. Its four sections have housed various commercial businesses.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Franklin Stearns (owner/builder); ironwork purchased from Hayward, Bartlett of Baltimore","architectural_style":"Cast-iron facade with Italianate entablature and Corinthian columns, inspired by Venetian Renaissance palaces","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as fair and unaltered, on its original site; occupied and used commercially at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.869966-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/43/6829/41682943/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/70000885.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000885/748a5dabcf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000885/748a5dabcf-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stearns_Iron_Front_Building,_1007-1013_East_Main_Street_(Richmond,_Independent_City,_Virginia).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stearns_Iron_Front_Building,_1007-1013_East_Main_Street_(Richmond,_Independent_City,_Virginia).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"05000527","name":"Main Street Banking Historic District (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/main-street-banking-historic-district-additional-documentation-05000527/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682943","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearns_Iron-Front_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16900688"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/stearns-iron-front-building-70000885/"}