Church Hill North Historic District (Boundary Increase)

This boundary increase extends the Church Hill North Historic District eastward and northward in Richmond's east end. It adds 288 buildings, 265 of them contributing, and most are one- and two-story frame dwellings built in the last two decades of the nineteenth century for working-class residents such as clerks, laborers, printers and machinists. Italianate is the dominant style, found in 168 contributing buildings, followed by Second Empire, with forty-one examples. Other styles include Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Gothic Revival, Art Deco and Bungalow/Craftsman. The oldest surviving building is Springfield Hall, built around 1850 as a lodge for the Sons of Temperance. The area also includes a train depot and trolley shed, three churches, a theater and commercial buildings, among them Fourth Baptist Church of 1884 and the 1938 Robinson Theater. The district was recognized for its architecture, Black ethnic heritage, religion and transportation, with a period of significance from 1850 to 1940.