Main Street buildings City of Richmond Department of Community
Development Main Street Banking Historic District is the
historic heart of Richmond’s financial district. Laid out in
1780, the district was part of an expansion of Richmond in
conjunction with its designation as Virginia’s capital.
Originally known as “E” Street, Main Street became the primary
commercial corridor and primary east-west route through Richmond
in the late 18th century. The Richmond evacuation fire of 1865
during the Civil War resulted in destruction of the two to five-
story buildings that composed the antebellum Richmond rebounded
after the war, and Richmond’s business community worked rapidly
to reconstruct the financial district. The rebuilding made
extensive use of prefabricated cast iron because of the speed of
erection for cast-iron modular buildings. The distinguished
Stearn’s Building at 1007-1013 East Main Street is one of the
best examples of a cast-iron row in the district. A Baltimore
foundry cast the elaborate facades in