The Central National Bank building is a 23-story (282 ft)

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

skyscraper located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. Completed in 1929, it was one of the first

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

s in the city of Richmond not in the heart of the financial district. According to architectural historian Richard Guy Wilson, it and the West Hospital building, are the only two skyscrapers in Richmond to have used the fashionable Art Deco ziggurat-inspired setback, and only a few others exist elsewhere in Virginia. When the bank later changed hands, it was known as the Central Fidelity Bank. It was used as a branch bank for Wachovia Corp. until that closed in 2000. After nearly fifteen years of vacancy, it was converted into apartments, and the first resident moved into the building in mid-2016. The redevelopment is called to "Deco at CNB," a 200-apartment development by Douglas Development Corp. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1979. It is located in the Grace Street Commercial Historic District.

History

At the end of the 19th and into the 20th century,

was rapidly growing. Broad Street (its roughly width double the average in the city) divided the more trendy southern neighborhood centered on Grace and Franklin Streets from

Jackson Ward Jackson Ward, previously known as Central Wards, is a historically African-American district in Richmond, Virginia, with a long tradition of African-American businesses. It is located less than a mile from the Virginia State Capitol, sitting ...

, which shifted in demographics during this period from a German and Jewish neighborhood to an African American one. Because of the barrier created by the transportation lines and traffic along the street, the north and south sides of Broad developed a different character; the southern side saw more trendy and monumental commercial and retail developments. The Central National Bank was founded in 1911 by a coalition of Broad Street and nearby Grace Street business owners who wanted a convenient banking location. Within six months, deposits at the new bank totaled over US$500,000, and by the 1920s the bank was the sixth largest bank in Richmond. The bank's directors voted to construct a new building on Broad Street in 1928.

References

External links

SAH Archipedia Building Entry
National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia Art Deco architecture in Virginia Commercial buildings completed in 1929 Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Virginia Residential skyscrapers in Virginia Skyscrapers in Richmond, Virginia 1929 establishments in Virginia {{RichmondCityVA-NRHP-stub

History

See also

References

External links