First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory, also known as the Leigh Street Armory, Monroe School, and Monroe Center, 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 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 Africa-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.[1]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[2]
References[]
- ↑ Selden Richardson (May 2009). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Richmond/127-5676_Leigh_Street_Armory_2009_NR_FINAL.pdf. and Accompanying four photos
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namednris
The original article can be found at First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory and the edit history here.