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The
Fan District
District
Boundaries: Boulevard to Belvidere Street and Main Street to Broad
Street
The
large area called the Fan District actually encompasses other
historic districts, including West Franklin Street, Monument Avenue,
Grace Street, and Boulevard Districts. It is the largest intact
Victorian community in the United States and encompanses over
100 city blocks. The District’s name derives from the street
pattern created by the pentagonal shape of Monroe Park, the base
of the district. The streets that fan westward from the park contain
residential structures built before and after the 1880s and the
1920s. The houses, seemingly uniform at first glance, display
a wide variety of facades, porches and rooflines.
| Located
between Belvidere, Laurel, West Franklin, and West Main
Streets
Monroe Park, 1851
The
park once served as the State Fairgrounds and later housed
a military hospital during the Civil War. Afterwards, the
park became a recreation destination for the neighborhood. |
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6
North Laurel Street
Richmond's Landmark Theater,
formerly The Mosque, 1926-1927
Exotic
Elements. Built by the Acca Temple of the Mystic Shrine
the city purchased the 3,500-seat theater in 1940. Its interior
is elaborately decorated with imported
and local tiles and mosaics. The theater features a dome
decorated with more than 75,000 square feet of gold leaf.
The building also includes an 18,000 square foot ballroom
and other function rooms. The theater is a venue for Broadway
shows, concerts and lectures. |
1520
West Main Street
Stonewall Jackson School, 1886-1887
Italianate. Built to accommodate the needs of Richmond's expanding
population. Now used for restaurant and office space. |
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Corner
of Harvie and Main Streets
The Warsaw, formerly St. Sophia Home of the Little Sisters
of the Poor, c1870
Second Empire. The original house built on this site by William
Anderson in 1830 was called Warsaw. In the 1870s, the building
was purchased by the Little Sisters of the Poor and incorporated
into the larger structure standing today. The nuns moved their
ministry in the 1970s, and the building was turned into condominiums.
Private residence. |
2221
Grove Avenue, Fox Farm, c1858
Federal Revival. Built by John Whitworth, the property was
sold in 1868 to John Fox. Mr. Fox reportedly ran a dairy here,
and the neighbors dubbed it Fox Farm. Charles Gillette, the
celebrated landscape architect, bought the house in 1923,
remodeled it and added a garden. Private residence. |
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| Fan
District Parks
In
order to promote the residential development that continued
westward, the city established a series of public parks.
Most Fan parks are triangular due to the intersection of
diagonal cross streets with the expanding east-west pattern
of Fan Streets.
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Meadow
Park, 1904
Location: Meadow Street, Park & Stuart Avenues
First
called Cutshaw Place after Colonel W. E. Cutshaw, the highly
regarded city engineer, this park features the statue honoring
the First Regiment of Virginia Infantry erected in 1930.
The sculptor was Ferrucio Legnaioli who also created the
reliefs at the National Theatre on Broad Street.
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Harrison
Street Park
Location: Harrison Street, Park & Grove Avenues
This
park is also known as Howitzer Park. City Council donated
$1000.00 to erect the statue in honor of the Richmond Howitzer
Battalion. Sculpted by William L. Sheppard, a former Howitzer.
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Historic Richmond Foundation - The William Byrd Branch of APVA
Preservation Virginia
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