Old City Hall, known formerly as City Hall, is the former city hall of

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

that was designed by

Elijah E. Myers Elijah E. Myers (December 29, 1832 – March 5, 1909) was a leading architect of government buildings in the latter half of the 19th century, and the only architect to design the capitol buildings of three U.S. states, the Michigan State Capito ...

. It served as City Hall from its completion in 1894 through the 1970s. The building occupies its own city block in downtown Richmond, bounded by 10th and 11th Streets to the west and east, and Capitol Street and East Broad Street to the south. The building is executed in a meticulous

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

for its architecture.

Description

Atrium Old City Hall Richmond, VA (8748859851)

While the overall composition of the building is generally symmetrical, the clock tower on the left side of the principal facade gives an impression of asymmetry. The four main levels are executed in gray granite. The interior centers around a large skylit

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

surrounded by four levels of cloister-like arcades, linked by a grand staircase. The building housed city offices and courts. Granite was locally obtained from quarries along the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

near Petersburg, and was shaped by workers under the direction of subcontractor James Netherwood. Iron work was by Asa Snyder.

History

The Old City Hall occupies a site that previously accommodated three notable buildings, all demolished for the new structure. The first City Hall, designed by Robert Mills and

Maximilian Godefroy J. Maximilian M. Godefroy (1765 – ''circa'' 1838) was a French-American architect. Godefroy was born in France and educated as a geographical/civil engineer. During the French Revolution he fought briefly on the Royalist side. Later, as an an ...

and completed in 1818 was demolished because it was considered structurally deficient. Also demolished were the

Edmund Randolph Edmund Jennings Randolph (August 10, 1753 September 12, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, and the 7th Governor of Virginia. As a delegate from Virginia, he attended the Constitutional Convention and helped to create ...

House, a ''circa'' 1800 octagonal-ended house, and the 1853 First Presbyterian Church, which was moved off the site in 1873. A design competition was held in 1883, with a design by

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

selected in 1884. The project was bid twice, and both times the low bids were well above the budget. A new competition was held, and a design by

Wait & Cutter Wait or WAIT may refer to: Music * Wait (musician), British town pipers Albums and EPs * ''Wait'' (The Polyphonic Spree EP), by The Polyphonic Spree * ''Wait'' (Emanuel Nice EP), a 2002 EP released by the band Emanuel Nice * ''Wait'' (Stee ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

was selected. Working drawings were prepared in 1886. Despite this, later that year the city council reversed its former decision and moved forward with the Myers design. Ground was broken for the new structure in 1886, with costs rising from a projected $300,000 to $1,318,349.19. Myers was a well-respected architect who had designed the state capitols of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, but it was later found that Myers had paid a bribe of $1,500 to ensure that his design would be built.Paul Goeldner, "The Designing Architect: Elijah E. Myers," ''Southwestern Historical Quarterly'' 92, no. 2 (October 1988): 271-288. Cost overruns were attributed to the massive and ornamented nature of the design. By 1915, with the popularity of the

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporat ...

, proposals were made to demolish City Hall to create a mall aligned with the northern side of the

Virginia State Capitol The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. (The first two were Jamestown and Williamsburg.) It houses the oldest elected ...

. Renewed demolition threats surfaced in the 1970s, but the building was restored in the early 1980s and is used for offices. The Old City Hall was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on October 1, 1969 and was designated a U.S.

in 1971.

References

External links

Old City Hall
at National Park Service driving itinerary
Richmond City Hall, 1001 East Broad Street, Richmond, Independent City, VA
at the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HABS) {{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Government buildings completed in 1894 National Historic Landmarks in Virginia Former seats of local government Clock towers in Virginia Buildings and structures in Richmond, Virginia Gothic Revival architecture in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia

Description

History

See also

References

External links