Fifth and Main Downtown Historic District (Boundary Increase)

This expansion adds nine commercial buildings to a historic district at the west end of downtown Richmond, Virginia. They date from 1869 to 1964 and include St. Alban's Hall, an 1869 fraternal and commercial building; small brick commercial buildings from about 1910 to 1950; a 1911 Western Electric warehouse with a 1949 addition; and three International Style office buildings from the early 1950s. Two of the offices, the Massey Building and 400 East Main Street, are steel-frame curtain wall buildings, and the Equitable Life Insurance Building has brick-faced curtain walls. The buildings were found significant for showing how former residential blocks turned to commercial use and how local businesses moved from revival styles to modern design. The Massey Building, by Marcellus Wright & Son, and the Equitable Life Insurance Building, by Baskervill & Son, are works of prominent local architects. The period of significance extends to 1964, when the Massey Building was enlarged.