Finding Historical Information about Local Architecture/Buildings:
Many of the resources listed here are Internet sites that can help find background information on local architecture and buildings. You may have to use many of the resources because no one source provides you with enough information about your individual building.
Also try a Google search for the name of a specific building-- this can help to give you the basics as to time, place, etc...Wikipedia may also help with very beginning background information, but do NOT stop there...that's just the beginning...
- Virginia Heritage ProjectVirginia Heritage is a database of guides, or finding aids, describing archives and manuscripts in eleven repositories in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At present, there are 1600 finding aids in the database.
The full text of the finding aids is searchable by keyword and by individual institution. - Library of VirginiaArchitectural records, plans and information for many of your buildings. Use their digital collections and finding aids for researching the history of your building.
- Richmond Esthetic Survey/Historic Building SurveyAn online search engine providing interactive access to maps, photographs, and detailed written survey reports documenting the architecture of central Richmond, Virginia, in 1965. Report, photograph, and map images are available online.
- Virginia Historical InventoryAn online search engine providing interactive access to photographs, maps, and detailed written reports documenting the architectural, cultural, and family histories of thousands of 18th- and 19th- century buildings in communities across Virginia. This collection was originally assembled by the Virginia Writers' Project, part of the depression-era Works Progress Administration. Report, photograph, and map images are available online.
- Mutual Assurance Society (Richmond/Henrico County, Virginia, Policies) – Indexesinsurance policies issued by the Mutual Assurance Society between 1796 and 1867 for buildings in Richmond and Henrico County. Document images available.
- Public Buildings and Grounds CollectionSearchable by COUNTY - Selected images from the Public Buildings and Grounds series of local government records. This series often includes reports, financial, contractual, and architectural documents related to the design, construction, condition, and alteration of local buildings like courthouses, jails, clerk's offices, and other public structures.
- Historic Richmond FoundationBackground information on Richmond neighborhoods.
- VCU -Richmond, Virginia History Internet ResourcesSection of Internet resources for Richmond, Virginia - contains a section of useful ARCHITECTURE and NEIGHBORHOOD links.
- Built in America - Library of Congress: HABS/HAERHistoric American Buildings Survey (HABS)/Historic American Engineering Record (HAER)/Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS), 1933-Present.
These collections are part of the Library of Congress' American Memory collections.
