Violet Bank Historic District Architectural and Historical Services

JMT was contracted through the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VA DHR) cost-share program to complete the Violet Bank Historic District nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Using archival research and information previously gathered through a reconnaissance survey, JMT worked closely with the VA DHR and the City of Colonial Heights to describe the historical significance of the District and to compile all necessary documentation for nomination to the National Register. Deed research and the National Register nomination for an adjacent historic district proved to be essential in developing the nomination.

The Violet Bank Historic District is significant under Criterion A in community planning and development and under Criterion C in the area of architecture. From 1815 to 1956, the period of significance begins with the construction of Violet Bank, the federal-style house around which the neighborhood developed, and ends with the final build-out of the district during the post-World War II building boom. The historic district contains one of the earliest planned suburbs in the City of Colonial Heights, with neatly delineated plans divided into blocks and lots prototypical of early twentieth-century suburbanization. The architecture showcases several period kit-houses and numerous other examples of houses that appear to be catalog-inspired.