In Richmond, the Hermitage Road Warehouse Historic District is associated with the city’s industrial growth and history from the early to mid-20th century. Located in the northwestern part of the city, just east of the neighborhood known as Scott’s Addition, this 2023 Boundary Increase and Update consists of two discontiguous areas adjacent to the original district and extends the period of significance to 1906 through 1965. After the Seaboard Air Line Railroad connected to the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad in 1900, various large industrial and commercial companies established themselves within the vicinity of Hermitage Road near its intersection with the SAL Railroad. The new rail connection brought industrial-scale transportation networks that made movement of materials and products faster and more efficient than ever before. The Richmond Foundry and Manufacturing Company, which constructed its distinctive complex at 2300 Hermitage Road in 1906, was among the first organizations to take advantage of the opportunities that the railroad offered. The district, which became comprised of a cohesive group of warehouse buildings exhibiting unadorned architecture and engineering trends of the period, would subsequently go on to house several of the city’s most prominent businesses, including Richmond Foundry and Manufacturing Company, Richmond Food Stores, Inc., and Brown Distributing Co. in the current expansion. The 2014 listed area includes buildings built for Export Leaf Tobacco, Miller & Rhoads, and the A. H. Robins Company. The International-style Salvation Army Building, designed by leading Richmond architect Carl M. Lindner, was constructed in 1965, and with this update it now is a contributing building in the original district.
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