Stearns Iron-Front Building Explained

Stearns Iron-Front Building
Designated Other1:Virginia Landmarks Register
Designated Other1 Date:December 2, 1969[1]
Designated Other1 Number:127-0023
Designated Other1 Num Position:bottom
Location:1007-1013 E. Main St., Richmond, Virginia
Coordinates:37.5372°N -77.4356°W
Added:February 26, 1970
Refnum:70000885

Stearns Iron-Front Building, also known as the Stearns Block, is a historic commercial building located in Richmond, Virginia. It was built in 1869, and is a four-story, 14 bay, brick building with a cast iron front. The building measures wide by deep.[2]

Richmond Unionist Franklin Stearns acquired what had once been the Planters Bank Building on Main Street after the American Civil War. In 1868 he erected rental housing and commercial office space, which was nicknamed the "Stearns block." The city's circuit court was held there beginning in 1870. His grandchildren's estate sold the property in 1923; the remaining iron front was noted in the Historic American Buildings Survey.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

External links

2 photos and 15 data pages at Historic American Buildings Survey

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Virginia Landmarks Register. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 19 March 2013.
  2. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Stearns Iron-Front Building. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff . November 1969. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo