{"nrhp_refnum":"99001605","name":"Folly Castle Historic District (Boundary Increase II)","other_names":["123-096"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly along South St. from Commerce St. to Farmer St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Petersburg (Independent City)","county":"Petersburg","state":"VA","lat":37.22738527050004,"lon":-77.41447691661071,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-01-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Black"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A second boundary increase to the Folly Castle Historic District in Petersburg, Virginia: a twelve-block, mostly residential neighborhood southwest of the city's original center, with 120 contributing and 16 non-contributing buildings, mainly late 19th and early 20th century.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the area as a typical Petersburg middle- and working-class neighborhood, with Italianate, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses on Washington Street and modest vernacular housing on the cross streets. It cites architecture and ethnic heritage, noting the Jones Street area as an African-American neighborhood from after the Civil War. Double houses, cottages and a shotgun house illustrate local house types.","narrative":"This twelve-block area of Petersburg, Virginia, lies southwest of the city's original commercial and residential core and west of the existing Folly Castle district. It holds 120 contributing buildings, including 109 dwellings, a school, a church, two factories and seven commercial buildings. The larger houses along West Washington Street show Italianate, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles, while the cross streets of Pine, Jones and South contain plainer working-class housing, including some of the oldest dwellings. Double houses, a type also called a double tenement locally, are the most numerous special form, with twenty-four identified. Jones Street appears to have been an African-American neighborhood from just after the Civil War, and it contains the only shotgun-type house. Other notable buildings include the 1850s Couch House, an Italian Villa-inspired house on Pine Street, and the 1911 Robert E. Lee Elementary School. The district was recognized for its architecture and its ethnic heritage between 1840 and 1945.","period_of_significance":"1840-1945","architect_builder":"Waite, Harrison","architectural_style":"Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival (also Romanesque Revival, Classical Revival, and No Style)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Many buildings have synthetic siding and some lost or replaced porch details, but the area is described as retaining architectural integrity. Modern infill is mostly ranch-type houses.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.721267-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/98/6824/41682498/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/99001605.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001605/9ec48014e3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001605/9ec48014e3-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FollyCastlePetersburg.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FollyCastlePetersburg.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/41682498","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly_Castle_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16837250"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/petersburg/folly-castle-historic-district-boundary-increase-ii-99001605/"}