The twenty-five-block area immediately north of the St. John’s Church Historic District is a remarkably intact, mostly 19th-century, Richmond neighborhood. The area was laid out in the 1780s on land belonging to Col. Richard Adams. Many of its early residents were merchants or tradesmen. Employing a grid plan with relatively wide streets, the blocks are lined with tightly spaced town houses of in a variety of styles. Twelve of the oldest houses are Federal-style structures built between 1810 and 1839. These and other Federal dwellings since destroyed originally had large lots but their open spaces were filled in as the century progressed so that most blocks today display considerable architectural variety. Minimal construction since the early 1900s has preserved a cohesive historic flavor.

The district was expanded in 2000 to continue this theme of similar building scale and materials, with a blending of architectural styles, and harmonious streetscapes. The expansion is mostly bounded on the west by North 25th Street, on the north by T Street, on the east by 32nd Street, and on the south by the adjacent Church Hill North Historic District. The boundary increase contains 288 buildings, twenty-three of which are noncontributing, and none of which have been previously listed on the National Register. The majority of the buildings are one- and two-story frame dwellings, both attached and detached, and most of which were built between 1880 and 1900. In addition to the domestic buildings, the expanded district contains a train depot and trolley shed, three churches, a theater and several commercial buildings. Many of these public buildings were designed by well-known Richmond architects. The dominant architectural style is Italianate with representative examples of Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Classical Revival, Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, Second Empire, Art Deco, and Bungalow/Craftsman-style buildings.
[VLR Listed: 3/15/2000; NRHP Listed: 8/16/2000]