{"nrhp_refnum":"76002229","name":"Blues Armory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"6th and Marshall Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.54327502000007,"lon":-77.43551863699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A massive red brick castellated armory at the northeast corner of Sixth and Marshall Streets in downtown Richmond, Virginia, completed in 1910 and designed by the Washington, D.C. firm of Averill and Hall.","why_significant":"It is a key architectural landmark in Richmond's commercial core and a characteristic example of the castellated armories built across the country from the 1870s to the 1920s. It was built as headquarters of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues, organized in 1789 and described as the oldest continuous military organization in the country when it ceased to exist as a unit in 1968.","narrative":"Rising at the northeast corner of Sixth and Marshall Streets in downtown Richmond, this red brick armory was completed in 1910 to designs by the Washington firm of Averill and Hall, with engineering by Marshall and Marshall. Its castellated look includes crenelated bartizans, a machicolated upper story, a crenelated parapet and an open ground-floor arcade over the sidewalks. Only the south and west sides are ornamented. The reinforced concrete building was made solid to resist mobs, and its ground floor, originally a food market, was separated from the military floors above, which were reached by a single guarded entrance. Upstairs were company suites, a reception hall, a steel-lined munitions room and a large drill hall under a curved steel-truss roof. It served as headquarters of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues, organized in 1789, until the early 1960s. Later uses included a fire station, and plans proposed a shopping mall and theatre while keeping the exterior intact.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Averill and Hall, Washington, D.C. (architects); Marshall and Marshall, Washington (engineers)","architectural_style":"Castellated style; listed as Eclectic with Gothic Revival elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Partially occupied: the northwest corner of the ground floor was converted to a fire station, while the upper floors had been unoccupied for over ten years and were deteriorated, with a sound structural system. Plans called for a shopping mall and a theatre.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.728453-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/9/6831/41683109/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/76002229.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002229/a7ea630523-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002229/a7ea630523-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"VCU Libraries","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richmond_Light_Infantry_Blues_Armory_Postcard.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">VCU Libraries</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richmond_Light_Infantry_Blues_Armory_Postcard.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"09000924","name":"Grace Street Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/grace-street-commercial-historic-district-boundary-increase-09000924/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683109","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_Armory","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4930445"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/blues-armory-76002229/"}