Broad Street Commercial Historic District

Broad Street in central Richmond is an unusually wide commercial thoroughfare, about 115 feet between building faces, and a ten-block stretch of it forms this historic district. Its 135 buildings are mostly two- to four-story brick stores and department stores built between 1880 and 1930, largely in Italianate style, with Romanesque Revival, Classical Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival examples. Many were designed by well-known Richmond architects such as Carneal & Johnston, Carl Ruehrmund and Charles H. Read, Jr., and by out-of-town firms such as Starrett & Van Vleck. The street became Richmond's leading shopping district after electric streetcars arrived in 1889. It also housed theaters, the Masonic Temple and Central National Bank. Repeated arches, pilasters, quoins and string courses give the varied facades a unified look. Only eight buildings are noncontributing, and modern intrusions are minimal, so the street keeps the character of a traditional American main street.