Stearns Iron-Front Building, also known as the Stearns Block, is a historic commercial building located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. It was built in 1869, and is a four-story, 14 bay, brick building with a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

front. The building measures wide by deep. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> Richmond Unionist Franklin Stearns acquired what had once been the Planters Bank Building on Main Street after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. In 1868 he erected rental housing and commercial office space, which was nicknamed the "Stearns block." The city's circuit court was held there beginning in 1870. His grandchildren's estate sold the property in 1923; the remaining iron front was noted in the Historic American Buildings Survey. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1970.

References

External links

Stearns Iron Front Building, 1007-1013 East Main Street, Richmond, Independent City, VA
2 photos and 15 data pages at

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Cast-iron architecture in Virginia Commercial buildings completed in 1869 Buildings and structures in Richmond, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia 1869 establishments in Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia {{RichmondCityVA-NRHP-stub