First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory, is a historic armory building located in Richmond, Virginia. It was built in 1895, and is a two-story. Late Victorian style brick structure. It also is known as the Leigh Street Armory, the Monroe School, and the Monroe Center.
First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory | |
 First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory, March 2011 | |
   | |
| Location | 122 W. Leigh St., Richmond, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°33′0″N 77°26′30″W / 37.55000°N 77.44167°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1895 |
| Architect | Cutshaw, Wilford Emory |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 09001158[1] |
| VLR No. | 127-5676 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 23, 2009 |
| Designated VLR | September 17, 2009[2] |
It features four brick towers, two circular turrets, a rectangular tower over the center front entrance, and a square tower, with crenellation along the roof parapet. The interior was rebuilt after a fire in 1985, and a 1940s gymnasium removed in 1998. The building originally housed the armory for an African-American militia company until 1899. It then housed a school for African-American children until World War II, when it again was used as a reception center for servicemen of color. It returned as a school for African-American children until 1954 and desegregation. For a period it housed The Black History Museum of Richmond. It is the oldest of three identified African-American armories in the country. It is currently home to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, which finished construction in May 2016.[3]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Selden Richardson (May 2009). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying four photos