Main Street Banking Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Also known as: VDHR File # 127-6031
Why it's listed
East Main Street in downtown Richmond, between 7th and Governor (13th) Streets, has served as the city's banking center since the Bank of Virginia and the Farmer's Bank built adjoining offices there in 1817. The 1865 Evacuation Fire destroyed nearly every antebellum building in the area except the 1858 Customs House, designed by Ammi Burnham Young. Rebuilding began almost immediately, and the south side of the street gained a continuous row of cast-iron fronts inspired by Venetian palazzi, including the Stearns Building and the Virginia Fire and Marine Insurance building, both linked to designer George H. Johnson. Around 1900 the streetscape changed again with steel-frame skyscrapers, among them the twelve-story Mutual Building, the Travelers' Building and the nineteen-story First National Bank Building of 1912, then the tallest structure in the city. Hotels, a Richardsonian Romanesque bank and later Neoclassical banks add variety. The district contains twenty-one contributing buildings, six already individually listed.
Significance in brief: The district is the core of Richmond's historic financial district, established on Main Street in 1817 and rebuilt after the 1865 Evacuation Fire. It holds a major collection of finely detailed brick and stone buildings in Italianate, Renaissance Revival, Beaux Arts, Classical Revival and Commercial styles, including several of the city's earliest skyscrapers.
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). NRHP reference 13000644, listed August 27, 2013. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 700, 703, 705-711, 801, 830-838 Main St., E., 7 7th & 28 6th Sts., S., Richmond (Independent City) |
|---|---|
| County | Richmond (city and county) |
| Listed | August 27, 2013 |
| Reference number | 13000644 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Ammi Burnham Young (Customs House); George H. Johnson; Charles H. Read; Clinton & Russell; Carl August Ruehrmund; Wyatt & Nolting; Charles K. Bryant; W. Duncan Lee; Alfred Charles Bossom; Charles M. Robinson; Mowbray & Uffinger |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian (Italianate, Renaissance Revival, Romanesque); Beaux Arts, Classical Revival; Commercial Style; Modern Movement (Art Deco, Post-Modern) |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Commerce, Economics, Law |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Section 6 lists current functions including hotel, financial institution, business, restaurant and government office, along with a 'Vacant' entry; the Customs House is now the Federal Courthouse. |
| Acreage | 2.5 |
| Coordinates | 37.53810, -77.43640 (Wikidata) |
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 13000644.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives)
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q16894484
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.