The seventeen remaining buildings of the 1907 Jamestown Exposition in the city of Norfolk form a unique collection of early exposition pavilions. Erected for the celebration of the tricentennial of the founding of the first permanent English settlement in the New World, the complex originally contained twenty state pavilions, a history pavilion, an auditorium, and other structures. Among those remaining are the Pennsylvania pavilion, a copy of Independence Hall; the Maryland pavilion, a copy of Homewood; and the Ohio pavilion, a copy of Adena. Unable to agree on what historic building to copy for Virginia, the Commonwealth built a standard Georgian Revival mansion. The Jamestown Exposition Building complex was purchased by the federal government in 1917, and the site was made into a naval base and naval air station. Most of the pavilions have since been converted to officers’ quarters, and today they are known collectively as Admiral’s Row.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia