Church Hill North Historic District

Church Hill North is a Richmond neighborhood of more than twenty-five blocks, bounded by M Street and Jefferson Avenue, Twenty-ninth Street, and the adjacent St. John's Church Historic District. Over ninety percent of its homes, shops and institutional buildings predate 1900, and the scale, materials, setbacks and landscaping remain consistent. No single style dominates. Twelve Federal-style houses, mostly along North 27th Street, date from 1810 to 1839, and the district includes the oldest commercial building in the city, the Wills store of 1813. Greek Revival was the most popular choice, with about 200 structures built between 1840 and 1865, including the temple-form Leigh Street Baptist Church, designed by Samuel Sloan in 1853. Italianate houses, slate-roofed Second Empire rows, Stick-style rental houses built by the Billups family, Queen Anne rowhouses, Colonial Revival homes, Classical Revival lodges and an Art Deco theater add variety. Together these buildings form a harmonious, largely unspoiled streetscape, which supports the district's recognition for its architecture.