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Fan District
*** Shopping-Tip: Fan District
{{Greater Richmond Region}}
'''The Fan''' is a district of
Richmond, Virginia, so named because of the "fan" shape of the roads that extend west from N. Belvidere St., on the eastern edge of
Virginia Commonwealth University's Monroe Park Campus, westward to "
Boulevard, Richmond, Virginia Boulevard." The Fan is bordered to the north by
Broad Street (Richmond, Virginia) Broad Street and to the south by Cary Street. Many cafes and locally owned restaurants are located here, as well as historic
Monument Avenue. Development of the Fan district was strongly influenced by the
City Beautiful movement of the late 19th century.
As development increased from downtown at the turn of the 19th century, Franklin street became a fashionable "
The West End (Richmond, Virginia) West End" address. A desire for a West End address drove rapid real estate development of the area, changing the area from rural tobacco fields in 1900 to being almost fully developed land by the 1930's. As development accelerated, the
University of Richmond (then located on Lombardy street) decided to move westward to a more rural location (its present Westhampton location). The term "The Fan" was coined in the mid 20th century by a
Richmond Times Dispatch editorial, as the appelation "
The West End (Richmond, Virginia) The West End" no longer applied.
Architecture
The Fan is significant for having one of the longest intact stretches of
Victorian architecture in the United States.
*Primary architectural styles represented include:
**
Italianate
**
Richardsonian Romanesque
**
Queen Anne style Queen Anne
**
Colonial Revival
* Other architectural styles include:
**
Tudor style Tudor
**
Second Empire
**
Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts
**
Art Deco
**
Spain Spanish
**
Gothic architecture Gothic
**
Bungalow
** American
Arts and Crafts Movement
**
James River Georgian
**
Southern Colonial
**
Jacobean architecture Jacobean
In April of 2005, the
Virginia Center for Architecture opened
Branch House, an architecture museum on
Monument Avenue. The Branch House was a historic Richmond home designed in 1918 by
John Russell Pope as a reproduction of an English
Tudor style Tudor manor house.
History
In 1817, The Fan was plotted as the village of Sydney on land formerly owned by
William Byrd II. Primary development of the Fan occurred from after the
American Civil War Civil War until about 1920. Development was influenced by streetcar lines leading from downtown, where the nation's first electric streetcar system was inaugurated in 1888.
External links
-
http://www.fandistrict.org/
-
http://www.historicrichmond.com/fan.html
Category:Richmond, Virginia
Category:Richmond neighborhoods
see
Fan district
*** Shopping-Tip: Fan District
