Commonwealth Preservation Group

Register Nominations

Williamston-Woodland Historic District, Norfolk, VA

WarehousesThe Williamston-Woodland Historic District is located in an area north of downtown Norfolk first developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The district contains over forty resources which consist of primarily light industrial with some retail/restaurant commercial buildings. There are two notable purpose-built Coca-Cola buildings still in use, the regionally known Doumar’s restaurant, a bagging warehouse, and a century-old, five-store warehouse built to store peanuts but used for coffee processing for most of its history. The style of the buildings is generally Commercial Style and variations of Modern design, including several prominent examples of Moderne as well as a few Art Deco and International Style inspired buildings.

The Williamston-Woodland Historic District was found significant under Criterion C for Architecture at the local level of significance as a good example of an early Norfolk commercial and light industrial development. The district retains its integrity with a dense concentration of historic resources and good examples of several types of early-to-mid twentieth century building styles and types. Coca-Cola BottlingThe area is also locally significant under Criterion A for Ethnic Heritage (European) with its significant number of still extant buildings built and owned by Benjamin and David L. Margolius. The Margolius brothers ran a large bagging facility as well as owned interest in several other businesses in the district. They served on bank and corporation boards and were one of the leading business families in early-to-mid-twentieth century Norfolk, as well as being one of the most prominent Jewish families in the city. Finally, the area is also locally significant under Criterion A for Commerce and Industry as related to the large number of light industrial and production facilities within the district and the story they tell of the movement of this type of business out of the historic downtown. The Period of Significance extends from 1906, the date of construction of the earliest extant building, to 1964 as the end date of a continually evolving commercial area.

The Cavalier Hotel, Virginia Beach, VA

The Cavalier hotel – entrance

The idea of the “Grande Dame of the Shore” took hold decades prior to the Cavalier Hotel’s construction, following a 1907 fire that destroyed Virginia Beach’s most prominent resort. In the 1920s, as a rail line was extended out to the city and commercial and residential development began to alter the landscape, the Virginia Beach Resort and Hotel Corporation was formed to make the resort a reality. The regionally prominent and  prolific architectural firm of Neff & Thompson designed the Cavalier, incorporating commercial space for tourists to shop on site and providing for all of the latest modern amenities. The 200 guest rooms at the Cavalier, each twelve by twelve feet, possessed hot water, cold water, sea water, and ice water spigots. On opening day, the Cavalier was toured by over 7,000 people. The hotel was the biggest news in Tidewater in a generation. Official celebrations lasted a week, and one event included daylight fireworks depicting life-sized cavaliers on horseback. Almost immediately, Virginia Beach’s premier hotel began to attract high society vacationers. The Who’s who list of famous visitors includes 9 U.S. presidents, First lady Edith Bolling Galt (a regular visitor), and Eleanor Roosevelt, who came with the Girl Scouts. Celebrity clientele included Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Betty Grable, Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Vacationers enjoyed leisure activities such as daily or weekly concerts, plays, horseback riding, golf, miniature golf, shooting, hunting, archery, tennis, and boating. A turning point in the building’s history occurred in 1942, when the Cavalier was annexed by the Navy for use as a radar school. Three years later, when the hotel was returned to its owner, the building was badly in need of restoration. A subsequent series of renovations occurred between the 1940s up through the early 2000s; the interior layout of the guest rooms was heavily altered, with most rooms expanded outside of their original, small footprints. The public spaces of the Cavalier, however, remain largely intact. Especially notable are the building’s Rotunda Lobby, the Raleigh Room (the lounge) and Pocahontas Room (the dining room), which retain much of their original detailing, including plaster walls, historic doors and transoms, and the terrazzo floor in the Raleigh room. The hotel’s lovely salt water pool and sunlit loggias also remain intact. The Cavalier Hotel was found significant at the local level for its architecture and its role in social history as one of Virginia’s preeminent resorts. The building has recently changed ownership and will be fully restored as a functioning hotel. The Cavalier is currently the subject of an ongoing, historic rehabilitation tax credit renovation.

Auto Row Historic District, Norfolk, VA

 P1060572

Boush Street

Boush Street

 

 

 

 

 

 

The growth of Norfolk’s Auto Row Historic District is closely tied to the rise of the city’s automobile industry. Although the area was initially founded as a lower and middle class neighborhood, most the residential buildings were demolished in the early 20th century to make way for Norfolk’s growing commerce. Conveniently located between several of Norfolk’s main thoroughfares (Granby Street, Monticello Avenue, and Brambleton Avenue), most of the new buildings were constructed as dealerships, repair shops, parts, suppliers, and even small light industrial manufacturers all feeding one common source: the car. As an example of how important the automobile was to the growth of the district, every parcel in the 700 block of Granby at one time or another contained a business related to the auto industry. The unprecedented commercial growth in this district turned Granby Street into a major vein of the city, with parcels commanding so-called “fancy” prices.

Most of the buildings in the district are industrial style, one or two stories in height. Popular styles include Moderne, Stripped Classical, International, Art Deco, and variations on purpose-built Commercial Buildings. Many buildings possess large windows meant to maximize auto display. One of the district’s important resources is the Texaco Building, constructed in 1918. A bastion of  Norfolk’s auto industry, the building, with its signature star stone detailing, began as a service station and eventually became the company’s regional headquarters. The Golden Triangle and the Harrison Opera House serve as important examples of district expansion outside of the auto industry. At the time of its construction in 1961, the Golden Triangle was the first major hotel constructed in 50 years, and the only major hotel located outside of the traditional downtown area. The Harrison Opera House, an International/Moderne style limestone building constructed in 1944, served as Norfolk’s primary entertainment venue until Chrysler Hall and Scope were erected in the 1970s. The building’s east elevation is historic.

The Auto Row Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August of 2014.

Virginia Ice & Freezing Corporation Warehouse, Norfolk, VA

Krispak after

Krispak before

In the early twentieth century, Norfolk was one of the largest producers and distributors of oysters and fish in the country. Local ice and cold storage facilities served as vital support to this industry. The Virginia Ice & Freezing Corporation, est. 1920, had one of the largest ice and storage operations in Norfolk. Its warehouse, located along the narrows of the Elizabeth River, was likely designed by notable Norfolk architect B.F. Mitchell.

A three-section concrete block building, today it represents the best-preserved cold storage warehouse in the City of Norfolk. Operated for many years by Krisp-Pak, the building once had this logo brightly emblazoned across its second level. The warehouse was found significant under Criterion A of the National Register of Historic Places, owing to the important role it played in the seafood industry vital to Norfolk’s economy since colonial times. Due to the building’s well-preserved 20th c. Commercial architecture, it was recognized a second time under Criterion C.

Commonwealth Preservation Group nominated the Krisp-Pak building to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The following year, CPG served as tax credit consultant for the building’s renovation. New ownership decided to divide the warehouse into 71 residential units. Floor plan changes included a rooftop addition and the introduction of two light wells to provide sunlight to the warehouse’s interior section. Updated electrical and HVAC systems made the residences habitable. The final result, the Riverview Lofts, retains its industrial appearance, preserving a remarkable building that may have otherwise fallen into disuse and disrepair.

Petersburg Old Town Historic District, 2012 Boundary Increase

Petersburg Old Town Historic District, 2012 Boundary Increase

The Petersburg Old Town Historic District first received recognition on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The original district encompassed most of the early portion of the city. Notable structures included groupings of 19th century warehouses, factories, and some residential buildings. In 2008, a boundary increase added a few large commercial/industrial buildings falling within the original period of significance, from the eighteenth century to 1930.

Petersburg Old Town Historic District, 2012 Boundary Increase

The district’s most recent boundary increase, in 2012, includes buildings entirely commercial in nature. The structures occupy one of the oldest parts of the city, but represent the area’s transition to more modern commercial use. The expansion, approximately seven acres, includes five commercial buildings erected between 1925 and 1953 and six commercial warehouses built between 1914 and 1957. The area’s period of significance now extends to 1958.

The contributing resources are primarily of cinderblock masonry construction. The district expansion qualifies for the National Register’s Criterion C, Architecture, as containing good representations of mid-twentieth century commercial/light industrial construction. The resources in the 2012 district expansion also serve as physical representations of Petersburg’s industrial past, further qualifying the expansion under Criterion A.

Seaboard/Wainwright Building, Norfolk, VA

Seaboard/Wainwright Building, Norfolk, VA

Erected in 1926, the Seaboard Air Line Railway Building remains Norfolk’s only large-scale commercial example of the late Gothic Revival style.  The nine-story building was one of the most important commissions of the regionally prominent firm of Neff and Thompson.

When first constructed, at 92,000 square feet the Seaboard Building contained the most office space of any structure in Norfolk. A reinforced skyscraper, at the time of construction it was also the third tallest building in the city. The building has an unusual V-shape and a largely intact exterior. The lobby retains most of its notable Gothic Revival decorative details.

Seaboard/Wainwright Building, Norfolk, VA

Previous tenants also render the building significant. Founded in 1832, the Seaboard Air Line Railway was a major player in the east coast market, and consisted of nineteen railroads prior to the Great Depression. The company moved both passengers and freight along the coast. Prior to WWII, however, the Seaboard Air Line Railway relocated and the Wainwright Realty Corporation occupied the Seaboard Building. The word “Wainwright” remains emblazoned in the historic limestone façade above the decorative heraldic entry arch.

The building is eligible under Criterion C for Architecture as an excellent and rare example of large-scale non-religious Gothic Revival architecture in the City of Norfolk.  It is also eligible under Criterion A for Commerce as the purpose built headquarters for the Seaboard Air Line Railway.

CPG wrote the register nomination for the Seaboard/Wainwright Building and also handled the tax credit application for its most recent renovation. Formerly doctors’ offices, the updated Wainwright Building now houses popular downtown apartments. While historic features were carefully preserved, modern amenities were also added. The building also possesses a small rooftop addition, barely visible from the street, which provides residents with access to a dog run, a clubhouse space, and far-reaching views of the Norfolk harbor

 

Hayden High School, Franklin, VA

Hayden High School, Franklin, VA

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources found Hayden High School significant under Criterion A, as being associated with events that have made a significant contribution to broad patterns of history. From 1953-1970, the school served as an important site in the fight over both equalization and desegregation, issues hotly debated throughout Virginia and the United States.

Constructed in 1953, Hayden High School is a masonry building with five-course American bond brickwork, minimally adorned in a vernacular style. The school was named for Della I. Hayden, a Hampton Institute graduate who had been local leader in African American education.

Hayden High School

In the early 1950s, during the time of the planning and construction of Hayden High School, the debate over school segregation intensified in Franklin, the Southampton County school system, Virginia, and across the nation. Although the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education provided the final word on school desegregation, the Southampton County educational system continued to resist compliance. It would be 1970 before Franklin schools were completely integrated, long after most of the rest of the nation.

As a result of integration, Hayden High School became Franklin’s Junior High. The building later closed in the 1980s and has remained vacant since that time. But, during its period as an all black high school, the building represented a focal point in the fight over segregation in the state of Virginia.

Briarwood, Virginia Beach, VA

Briarwood

Overlooking a large field sloping down to Linkhorn Bay, Briarwood, a monumental size Tudor Revival House, serves as an outstanding example of this architectural style. Built in 1932, its scale and site surpasses any other surviving Tudor Revival structures in Virginia Beach. The exterior cladding features herringbone patterned brick and false half-timbering. Three bay windows, each a different shape and with leaded, glass diamond panes, characterize the home’s exterior. The original copper gutters, as well as large chimneys topped with decorative chimney pots, remain intact today.

Briarwood

The Tudor Revival style exemplified by Briarwood was popular in the United States between 1890 and 1940, hitting its peak in the ’20s and ’30s. The house belonged to the Binghams, who joined a wave of Northerners building homes in the budding resort town. Although today the house sits on a four-acre lot, the original parcel was much larger, a site befitting such an expensive construction. Homes built on this kind of grand scale were rare during the Great Depression.

Briarwood was found significant under Criterion C, as embodying the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction. Wickham C. Taylor, a notable regional architect responsible for many prominent Tidewater homes, designed the house.

Green Hill, Virginia Beach, VA

Green Hill, Virginia Beach, VA

Constructed c. 1791, Green Hill is a relatively rare surviving example of an eighteenth century Georgian/Federal style home in Virginia Beach, Virginia and former Princess Anne County.  The house serves as a fine example of the evolution of the early American hall-and-parlor house once ubiquitous in this region.

Green Hill, Virginia Beach, VA

Green Hill, a Flemish bond brick masonry building, retains many of its historic interior and exterior features, such as deep-set windows, antique doors, and original pine flooring. Constructed by the Lovetts, one of the prominent founding families of early Princess Anne County, the property has only a small number of regional equals. At the time of its construction, few residents of the county could afford to build their own home, and fewer still on the level of a large plantation house such as Green Hill. In 1954, leading regional architect Finlay Ferguson Jr. oversaw an expansion and renovation that added two wings, compatible with late eighteenth century wing design. Green Hill was found significant under Criterion C for architecture at the local level. The period of significance is from its construction in 1791 until the date of its last addition in 1954, representing its uninterrupted role as one of the most important dwellings in Virginia Beach.

Gloucester Downtown Historic District, Gloucester, VA

Gloucester Downtown Historic District, Gloucester, VA | Bank

Gloucester Downtown Historic District, Gloucester, VA | Bank

The Downtown Gloucester Historic District is located in Gloucester Court House village in the middle of Gloucester County, Virginia. Gloucester Court House village has been the administrative center of Gloucester County since at least the time of the 1766 construction of the third county courthouse and the official 1769 establishment of the Town of Botetourt (modern day Gloucester Court House village). The focal point of the town development since before its legal creation has been the courthouse, which has existed at or near its current site since c.1680.

Gloucester Downtown Historic District, Gloucester, VA | Debtor's Prison

Gloucester Downtown Historic District, Gloucester, VA | Debtor’s Prison

The town has developed slowly over three centuries from a wealthy, completely agrarian population and economy to a small town today. After a slow recovery from the Civil War, industrialization and new forms of commerce brought more of the population into the central village of Gloucester Court House and led to a developmental expansion down Main Street beyond the original courthouse circle.

The overall population of the county has grown slowly through the second half of the twentieth century and as a result, the downtown area has maintained its historic character and not seen the huge declines and disruptive redevelopments of many downtown areas. The historic district was found significant under Criteria A, C and D for its development as a rural village and primary population center in Gloucester County from the Colonial period to the modern era, and for its architectural character and archaeological resources spanning the period from 1754 to 1960.

Phoebus Historic District Hampton, VA

Phoebus Historic District, Hampton, VA | Residential

Phoebus Historic District, Hampton, VA | Residential

The Phoebus Historic District is located within the city of Hampton, Virginia. Phoebus was originally an independent town within Elizabeth City County dating from 1874 to 1952. Elizabeth City County and the town of Phoebus were annexed to the city of Hampton in 1952.

Phoebus Historic District Hampton, VA | Commercial

Phoebus Historic District Hampton, VA | Commercial

The town developed from a 17th century settlement along Mill Creek, which was a navigable waterway providing access to the lands within Elizabeth City County. The town of Phoebus is located northwest of Old Point Comfort, which was a strategic military and port location on the north side of Hampton Roads from the 17th century until the present day, and which serves as the home of the 19th century Fort Monroe. The town grew during the Reconstruction period with the addition of a railroad line, streetcar line, commercial corridor, and supporting residential building. Its proximity to the ferries that operated from Old Point Comfort facilitated its growth and development. The opening of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in 1957 was a watershed event for Phoebus resulting in the elimination of most traffic through the town and a halt to significant construction projects. As a result, the town and its architectural resources remain much as they were when the tunnel opened.

The historic district was found significant under Criteria A and C for its development as a town in Elizabeth City County during the Reconstruction period and for its town planning and architectural character from the period 1874 to 1957.

Hampton Historic District, Hampton, VA

Downtown Hampton Historic District, Hampton, VA

Downtown Hampton Historic District, Hampton, VA

The Downtown Hampton Historic District is located on the edge of the Chesapeake Bay. Before any English settlement was created, however, the general area of Hampton, Virginia was home to a substantial native Kecoughtan village. Hampton itself has its roots in the earliest English settlements at the beginning of seventeenth century Virginia, and is often called the oldest continuous English-speaking settlement in America. Elizabeth City County was officially created in 1634, while the town of Hampton was formed in 1705.

Downtown Hampton Historic District, Hampton, VA | Courthouse

Downtown Hampton Historic District, Hampton, VA | Courthouse

Downtown Hampton has been an active port since the end of the seventeenth century when the colonial assembly ordered a port be built there in 1691 and laid out the plat for the original crossroads of King and Queen Streets in the same year. This crossing point represents one of the earliest examples of town planning in America and has been the focal point of downtown Hampton since the Colonial period. Hampton began its history as one of the most important coastal cities in America, but the War of 1812, the burning of the city at the outset of the Civil War, and another substantial fire in 1884 greatly hampered development.

Hampton did not begin to develop as a city until the late nineteenth century with Reconstruction, and as a result most of the buildings date from this period through the mid-twentieth century. In 1952 Elizabeth City County, Phoebus, and the town of Hampton merged to form the City of Hampton, beginning the modern era for the city. The historic district was found significant under Criteria A, C, and D as a very early example of Colonial era town planning, for its development as a town from the Colonial period to the modern era, and for its architectural character and archaeological resources spanning the period from 1691 to 1952.

Virginia Trunk and Bag Company, Petersburg, VA

Virginia Trunk & Bag Company, Petersburg, VA

Virginia Trunk & Bag Company, Petersburg, VA

The Virginia Trunk and Bag Co. is a large and evolved manufacturing complex constructed in several phases between 1903 and c1931 as the trunk manufacturing business evolved on site. The buildings and additions most typically represent early twentieth century industrial architecture. The exteriors and interiors have a high level of integrity with most of the original details and features intact. The buildings and structures in the complex represent the trunk manufacturing process in its entirety from raw lumber to completed product.

Virginia Trunk & Bag Company, Petersburg, VA

Virginia Trunk & Bag Company, Petersburg, VA

The Virginia Trunk and Bag Co. was established in Petersburg in 1898. In the early twentieth century Petersburg claimed to be the leading trunk and valise manufacturing city in the world and the Virginia Trunk and Bag Co. was one of the largest trunk manufacturers in the city during that period. Between 1916 and 1931 the site was also the headquarters for the American Hardware Company, which was the parent company for at least six different trunk makers in Petersburg, representing the majority of trunk manufacturing in Petersburg at that time.

The Virginia Trunk and Bag Co. was found significant under Criterion A (Industry) as one of the most important properties strongly linked with the development of the huge trunk manufacturing industry in Petersburg. It is also eligible under Criterion C (Architecture) as one of the most intact and best preserved of the remaining trunk manufacturing facilities.

R.L. Stone House, Bassett, VA

R.L. Stone House, Bassett, VA

R.L. Stone House, Bassett, VA

The R.L. Stone house is a nearly pristine example of the Classical Revival style located in Henry County, Virginia on its original nearly three acre site. The house is highlighted by a prominent full height entry porch and pediment supported by four colossal two story columns with Egyptian papyrus style capitals. The exterior and interior of the house retain most of the original details and features.

R.L. Stone House, Bassett, VA

R.L. Stone House, Bassett, VA

The house was built by Reed Lewis Stone and his wife, Nancy Susan “Dink” Stone. R.L. Stone was one of the four founders of Bassett Furniture. Bassett Furniture was one of the most important furniture companies of the twentieth century and one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the world. Stone was also the largest builder in Bassett during his lifetime.

The house was found significant under Criterion B (significant person) because of its strong link to one of the founders of Bassett Furniture. It is also significant under Criterion C (Architecture) as an excellent example of large scale Classical Revival house design in the region. The house represents the success of R.L. Stone and Bassett Furniture and the prominent place of both within the community.

Hylton Hall, Danville, VA

Hylton Hall, Danville, VA | Textile School

Hylton Hall, Danville, VA | Textile School

Hylton Hall is a large, six-story Classical Revival building constructed in 1918 and designed by the firm of Heard, Cardwell & Craighill. It served as a hotel-style dormitory for single female workers of The Riverside & Dan River Cotton Mills, Incorporated (Dan River Mills) which began in 1882 and was one of the largest cotton mills in the country by the early twentieth century. Hylton Hall continued as a residential facility until 1948 when it was converted to offices. The interior and exterior are intact and retain most of their original appearance and character. There is also a c1928 one-story shop building on the site which was formerly used by the occupants of Hylton Hall.

Hylton Hall, Danville, VA

Hylton Hall, Danville, VA

The building served as a dormitory, dining facility, social hall, and recreation center—this fit well into the new concept of factory management which mill president H.R. Fitzgerald wanted to bring to Dan River Mills: Industrial Democracy. The building is closely associated with mill related welfare projects in Danville in the first quarter of the twentieth century and is indicative of the approach to housing and workforce development during the era that the building operated as a dormitory.

Hylton Hall was found significant under Criterion A (Social History) and Criterion C (Architecture). The building is representative of architect-designed Classical Revival style and one of only a few large scale examples of this style in the area.

Ivy Hill Cemetery, Smithfield, VA

Ivy Hill Cemetery, Smithfield, VA

Ivy Hill Cemetery, Smithfield, VA

Ivy Hill Cemetery was created in 1886 as a private cemetery to serve the residents of Smithfield and Isle of Wight County. The land was originally part of the T.B. Wright farm until it was laid out as a cemetery along the slopes of a small peninsula of land overlooking the Pagan River.

Ivy Hill Cemetery, Smithfield, VA

Ivy Hill Cemetery, Smithfield, VA

The roughly fourteen acre cemetery utilizes a plan which flows with the existing curves and rolls of the land. Grave markers vary from quite simple early examples to more detailed and articulated styles. Many of the leading citizens of area are buried at Ivy Hill, including some mid-nineteenth century graves which were moved to the cemetery when it first opened.

It has been, and continues to be, the burial ground for many of the area’s prominent citizens. The cemetery was found significant under Criterion C (Landscape Architecture) as a fine example of a local cemetery influenced by the earlier “rural” cemetery movement, and Criterion Consideration D (Cemetery) because of its gravesites of persons of local and regional importance.

Central High School, Painter, VA

Central High School, Painter, VA

Central High School, Painter, VA

Central High School was constructed in two phases between 1932 and 1935 by the father and son team of J.W. Hudson and J.W. Hudson, Jr. Both phases of the building are Art Deco in design and are built to blend visually and functionally as one building. The Art Deco style was common for American schools in the 1930s.

Central High School, Painter, VA | Vocational School

Central High School, Painter, VA | Vocational School

The primary building is of brick masonry construction with stone details at its main entrances. The building is two stories in height and is an imposing structure just off of the state highway between the towns of Painter and Keller. There are three contributing outbuildings which served as extra classroom space, a vocational school, and a home economics classroom.

Central served as the first consolidated high school for the county from its construction in 1932 until it became a middle school in 1984, representing a vital part of the community and its education for much of the twentieth century. It retains a strong level of historic and architectural integrity and was found significant under Criterion C (Architecture) as an excellent example of large scale Art Deco design and a rare example of the Art Deco style on the Eastern Shore. Its historic outbuildings and intact site also support the argument for a high level of architectural integrity.

Captain Timothy Hill House, Chincoteague, VA

Captain Timothy Hill House, Chincoteague, VA

Captain Timothy Hill House, Chincoteague, VA

The Captain Timothy Hill House is a rare surviving example of an early nineteenth century plank-wall house and possibly the oldest surviving house on Chincoteague Island. It is also one of the few surviving houses in Virginia which at one time had a wooden chimney. The house was owned by Timothy Hill during the early-to-mid-nineteenth century and it was during his ownership that the house gained the features which represent its current style and detailing.

Captain Timothy Hill House, Chincoteague, VA | Ship Carving

Captain Timothy Hill House, Chincoteague, VA | Ship Carving

The house was constructed using pit sawn and hewn pine planks secured at each corner with original dovetail joints. The house retains some historic flooring, interior wood trim, paint, chinking, two historic doors, and an historic mantle. There are over thirty nineteenth century carvings of ships on the exterior of the house. While simple outlines, the images accurately convey the details and proportions of period sailing vessels such as schooners and sloops.

The house was found to be significant under Criterion C (Architecture) as an extremely rare resource type. The house is well documented through local histories and records and represents an excellent example of early seafaring life on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

American Cigar Company, Norfolk, VA

American Cigar Company Extension, Norfolk, VA

American Cigar Company Extension, Norfolk, VA

The American Cigar Company consists of two buildings which remain from a stemmery complex originally constructed in 1903: the primary processing building and the boiler building. The resource is a good example of turn-of-the-century mill construction and Victorian industrial design.

American Cigar Company, Norfolk, VA

American Cigar Company, Norfolk, VA

Stemmeries were facilities where the stem was removed from the tobacco leaf prior to its manufacture into cigars. This stemmary was a large facility for the time and immediately established Norfolk as a notable city in the field of tobacco production. The facility was built near the railroad tracks for easy transportation. The facility was also built near to the poorer African American section of Norfolk for easy access to an inexpensive labor force, particularly African American women who represented most of the workforce for many years. It was the site of a failed but noteworthy Women Wage Earner’s Association (WWEA) strike in 1917, during WWI. The American Cigar Co. operated as a subsidiary of the larger American Tobacco Company.

The American Cigar Company was found to be significant under Criterion A (Industrial and Social History) and Criterion C (Architecture). The interior and exterior retain most of their original historic features and character resulting in strong historical integrity. The building is also closely associated with African American history as related to the women’s labor movement.

Moses Myers House, Norfolk, VA

Moses Myers House, Norfolk, VA

Moses Myers House, Norfolk, VA

The Moses Myers House is an outstanding example of a late nineteenth-century Federal home with a huge collection of original artifacts which includes: thousands of original documents and letters, several thousand books from the original library, a massive period sheet music collection, and a majority of the original art and furniture.

Moses Myers House, Norfolk, VA | Entry Hall

Moses Myers House, Norfolk, VA | Entry Hall

The house was home to the financially and politically prominent Myers family for five generations from its construction in the late nineteenth-century until 1931. Moses Myers and his new wife, Eliza, became the first documented Jewish residents of Norfolk in 1787 and built their house shortly thereafter. The Myers family’s role in Norfolk as Jews as well as leaders in business, government, and the community is the key to the historical context of the Myers family home. The Moses Myers house is an expression of the traditional culture and role of Jewish society in America from the earliest days of our nation’s history. Myers forged a new life in the otherwise uniformly Christian city of Norfolk while maintaining his status as a practicing Jew.

The Moses Myers House was found to be nationally significant under Criterion A in the area of Social History as the best surviving example of an early American Jewish home in the United States, while also possessing a high level of architectural integrity.