Commissioned by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Co., the First National Bank Building in the city of Richmond, with its elegant detailing, Corinthian columns, and lofty banking hall, is a potent example of 20th-century Neoclassical Revival architecture. Its architect was Alfred Charles Bossom, an associate with Clinton and Russell of New York. The building was completed in 1913 as the city’s first high-rise building, combining monumental scale with the technological daring of steel-frame skyscraper construction. Bossom stated his approach to the design: “The building externally should look like a BANK and should call attention to itself by substantial and conservative appearance.” In the heart of downtown Richmond’s Main Street financial district, the structure was long the headquarters of the state’s oldest banking institution. The exterior appearance was altered when its Florentine-style cornice was removed. The First National Bank Building was converted to house office condominiums.
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