Richmond’s Masonic Temple, designed by Baltimore architect Jackson T. Gott and erected in 1888-93, is a brick-and brownstone extravaganza of the American Romanesque Revival, a style made fashionable by Boston architect H. H. Richardson. The weighty edifice, with its mass countered by a large corner tower, delicate corner bartizans, and a multiplicity of windows, was the largest building put up by Virginia Masons by that time and brought a big-city quality to Broad Street. In addition to the Masonic meeting rooms, the building accommodated a department store and cultural facilities. Its main reception room provided a grand setting for many balls, concerts, and banquets, most notably a banquet held for President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. Abandoned by the Masons for a number of years, the Masonic Temple building has since been restored for mixed use.
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
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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