Manchester Industrial Historic District

Along the south bank of the James River at the falls, this industrial district preserves the working core of Manchester, a town incorporated in 1769 and annexed by Richmond in 1910. About 35 blocks hold 40 contributing buildings and one contributing structure, mostly two- and three-story brick mills, factories and warehouses built between 1880 and 1949. Examples include a 1880 carriage maker's shop, a five-story coffee manufacturing building from 1920, paint and fabric works, foil plants later used by Reynolds Metals, and two railroad depots. The district also takes in the sites of the 1732 Manchester Canal and millrace, the Manchester Commons, and the Mayo Bridge, a reinforced concrete Beaux Arts structure opened in 1913. It was listed because it reflects the area's flour, textile, tobacco, iron and metal industries, its railroad and bridge connections to Richmond, and the well-preserved, handsomely detailed masonry architecture of those enterprises. Many sites remain in manufacturing use.