Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 09/14/2005
NRHP Listing Date 11/09/2005
NRHP Reference Number 05001226
Henrico Theatre is a two-story Art Deco movie palace in Highland Springs, and one of two significant Art Deco resources surviving in Henrico County. When it opened on April 25, 1938, it was the most prominent and architecturally sophisticated theater in the Richmond area, despite its then-rural location. Edward Francis Sinnott designed its sophisticated streamlined exterior and interior, and used cutting-edge building materials such as monolithic poured concrete. The theater featured high-tech equipment such as a Simplex E-7 projector for showing movies, and it offered customers a chilled, air-conditioned environment during hot weather, a rare attraction at that time. Henrico Theatre was so well-received that in a 1940 Architectural Record poll, it was nominated by a distinguished panel of Richmonders to be one of the most outstanding examples of recent architecture in the greater capital region.
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Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: September 2, 2021
