{"nrhp_refnum":"98000739","name":"Grace Street Commercial Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Adams, Broad, 8th and Franklin Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.542536003000066,"lon":-77.43940003703554,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-07-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A nine-block commercial historic district in downtown Richmond, Virginia, centered on Grace Street and parts of Franklin and Broad Streets between 8th and Adams Streets. It holds 74 contributing and 15 noncontributing buildings, mostly from the early twentieth century, plus a few remnants of the earlier residential neighborhood.","why_significant":"The district contains the core of Richmond's early twentieth century retail development, when Grace Street changed from a wealthy residential street into a fashionable shopping and business district nicknamed \"Richmond's Fifth Avenue.\" Its buildings show a wide range of revival and modern styles, including Italian Renaissance, Spanish and Georgian Revival, Art Deco and Moderne. The form notes that the district keeps much of its early twentieth century integrity despite some demolitions and altered storefronts.","narrative":"Grace Street Commercial Historic District covers nine blocks of downtown Richmond, running along Grace and Franklin Streets with a few buildings on Broad Street. Until about 1920 the area was one of the city's most fashionable residential neighborhoods, lined with mansions, row houses and several churches. Beginning with the Thalhimer Brothers office building in 1911, and accelerating through the 1920s, it turned into a retail and office center that was nicknamed \"Richmond's Fifth Avenue.\" More than seventy shops and office buildings went up between 1920 and 1930, before the 1929 crash slowed construction. The district includes department stores such as Miller & Rhoads and Thalhimers, the Loew's Theater, and an eleven-story Art Deco telephone company building. Its buildings use Italian Renaissance, Spanish Revival, Georgian Revival, Art Deco and Moderne designs in brick, limestone and terra cotta. A handful of earlier residential and church remnants survive. The district contains 74 contributing and 15 noncontributing buildings and keeps much of its early twentieth century character.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Charles K. Bryant; Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker; John Eberson; Starrett & Van Vleck; Carneal & Johnson; Baskerville & Lambert; Linder & Phillips","architectural_style":"Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Italian Renaissance, Chicago, Art Deco, Moderne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Many buildings remain in commercial, theater, office and religious use. A few buildings were demolished in the 1980s and some storefronts were altered. A 1997 plan called for demolishing the Thalhimer's store addition.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.943518-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/6829/41682947/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/98000739.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000739/462ada86bf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000739/462ada86bf-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"VCU Libraries","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_John_Marshall,_Richmond,_Virginia_Postcard.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">VCU Libraries</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_John_Marshall,_Richmond,_Virginia_Postcard.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"06000750","name":"Fifth and Main Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/fifth-and-main-downtown-historic-district-06000750/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682947","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Street_Commercial_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16891820"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/grace-street-commercial-historic-district-98000739/"}