{"nrhp_refnum":"84000053","name":"Virginia War Memorial Carillon","other_names":["The Carillon","VHLC File No. 127-387"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1300 Blanton Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.541100355000026,"lon":-77.48365871199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-10-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eight-story, 200-foot bell tower on a limestone plinth at the southern end of Blanton Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, designed by Cram and Ferguson and built 1928-32 as the state's World War I memorial.","why_significant":"It is the only structure the Commonwealth of Virginia erected to honor Virginians who served in World War I. Its design and commission were shaped by public opinion and political action, which replaced a competition-winning design with a carillon. It is also one of Cram and Ferguson's most opulent Georgian designs.","narrative":"Rising 200 feet above William Byrd Park in western Richmond, this bell tower was built between 1928 and 1932 as Virginia's only state memorial to those who served in World War I. Cram and Ferguson of Boston designed it in the Georgian Revival style, with a limestone base, brick shaft with limestone quoins, an open bell loft and an octagonal lead-sheathed cupola. The base once held a war museum, and the upper floors hold the clavier and sixty-six bells. A memorial commission formed in 1922 and chose a different design by Marcellus Wright and Paul Cret in a competition. A citizen campaign led by Granville Valentine pushed the legislature to require a carillon in 1926, and Cram and Ferguson were then asked to prepare the design. The tower was dedicated on October 15, 1932. By the time of the nomination the museum had closed, the building was vacant, and a major renovation was underway.","period_of_significance":"1928-32","architect_builder":"Cram and Ferguson","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"At the time of the form the building was vacant and the carillon unplayed, with a major renovation underway funded by state, municipal and private interests.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:01.02964-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/11/6831/41683111/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/84000053.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000053/6c54aa911a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000053/6c54aa911a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Morgan Riley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FountainLakeByrdPark.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:FountainLakeByrdPark.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/41683111","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byrd_Park","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5004228"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/virginia-war-memorial-carillon-84000053/"}