Originally built as the State Planters Bank, this robust brick and brownstone pile in the city of Richmond’s Main Street financial district, is a highly original expression of the Romanesque Revival. It was designed in 1893 by Charles H. Read, Jr., who fought in the battle of New Market while a Virginia Military Institute cadet. He later studied at the University of Virginia. Read contributed several other exemplary buildings to Richmond, including the Union Theological Seminary quadrangle. Among the first of the grand banks to be built in Richmond, Planters exemplifies the Romanesque qualities of permanence and fortress-like protection. Rescued in the 1980s even after demolition by the state had begun, the building was carefully restored as the headquarters of the Virginia Retirement System. The project included the construction of an architecturally harmonious office wing with parking deck attached to the east side.
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
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