Manchester Industrial Historic District (Boundary Increase)

This boundary increase brings more of Richmond's Manchester industrial area into an existing historic district, covering blocks between the James River and Commerce Road, from Semmes Avenue to Maury Street. It includes 34 contributing buildings and two contributing structures dating from 1910 to 1959, most built in the 1950s. Typical buildings are one- or two-story brick or concrete-block structures with flat roofs, steel or aluminum windows, and decoration limited to entrances. Larger examples include the Hopper Paper Company building, begun in 1922, which fills an entire block. Smaller examples include gas stations, groceries, a Quonset hut and Sol's Cafeteria, the only frame building. The area changed from houses to factories, warehouses and businesses serving workers, leaving more open space than the original district. Extending the period of significance to 1959 allowed several earlier excluded buildings to count as contributing. Today the area is mostly commercial, with some residential reuse planned.