After its destruction during the Evacuation Fire of 1865, most of Richmond’s commercial area was rebuilt with structures employing cast-iron trim or completely cast-iron facades, nearly all in a rich Italianate style. Of the three iron fronts remaining in the area, the Branch Building of 1866 stands as a particularly engaging representative of this American architectural fashion. Built as the headquarters of the Virginia Fire and Marine Insurance Company, the four-bay, four-story building features an intricate ground-floor loggia composed of free-standing Corinthian columns. Its current name comes from the fact that the building was for many years the offices of the Branch Co., later Branch, Cabell & Co., a brokerage firm. The building contributes to Richmond’s Main Street Banking Historic 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