James City Historic District
Also known as: 056-5011
Why it's listed
James City is a cluster of fourteen wooden buildings spread across roughly 280 acres beside U.S. Route 29 on the Madison and Culpeper county line in Virginia. Commercial buildings include two stores, a tavern and a blacksmith shop, and they face two houses across a farm lane that was once the Fredericksburg Road, a main route into Madison County and a stagecoach line. The oldest portion, a house and kitchen from about 1796, was later combined with a tavern built before 1817 and a store into one long structure. An 1870 I-house, a feed store and a former school house stand on the opposite side, and barns, corncribs and poultry houses dot the fields. The district was listed for its architecture and its role in local commerce. James City received Madison County's second post office in 1810, and Daniel James obtained a license in 1822. Most buildings keep their basic integrity, though several are deteriorating and only one house is occupied.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents James City as a time capsule of late-18th-, 19th- and early-20th-century domestic, commercial and agricultural buildings. It grew along the old Fredericksburg Road, a stagecoach route, and included a tavern, stores and a blacksmith shop. It became the second post office in Madison County in 1810, and in 1822 Daniel James obtained a license to operate a business there.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 01000691, listed July 13, 2001. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | US 29, Madison |
|---|---|
| County | Madison County |
| Listed | July 13, 2001 |
| Reference number | 01000691 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | ca. 1796 to 1940s |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | No Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Commerce |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Only one residence is occupied; some buildings are in disrepair and several agricultural buildings are used minimally or not at all. |
| Acreage | 280 |
| Coordinates | 38.43507, -78.13274 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 01000691.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14712617
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.