Nomination Form
A rugged 54-acre island in the James River rapids, Belle Isle has played a significant role in Richmond history. Capt. John Smith explored here in 1607. The first William Byrd and his heirs owned it for over 100 years. Following the opening of a nail factory in 1814, the island became a manufacturing site. During the Civil War, Belle Isle gained dubious national attention as a prisoner-of-war camp for Union soldiers. The camp’s conditions rivaled those of the infamous Andersonville Prison in Georgia. After the war, the Old Dominion Iron and Nail Co. continued the island’s industrial activity until closing in 1972. Factory ruins survive along with granite quarry pits, the stone piers of bridges that once connected the island with the mainland, and the ruins of the 1904 Virginia Electric Power Co. generating plant. Today, Belle Isle is a popular city park.
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
Nomination Form
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
