Towering above its neighbors, both residential and commercial, the eleven-story William Byrd Hotel in Richmond proclaims the growing popularity of the steel-frame, high-rise architecture in the 1920s. The hotel was built in 1925 primarily to serve the patrons of the Broad Street railroad station directly across the street. It was designed by Marcellus E. Wright, Sr., one of the city’s leading architects, who embellished the exterior with a subtle, restrained classicism. When opened, the Richmond News Leader described the hotel as “a monument to Richmond energy, talent, and progressiveness.” For many years, the William Byrd Hotel and Broad Street Station formed travelers’ gateway image of Richmond. The William Byrd Hotel closed in the 1980s but was sensitively rehabilitated in 1996 for use as apartments for the elderly.