Fan district

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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 Monroe Park, westward to Boulevard. The Fan is one of the most easterly points to the city's Westend section, and is bordered to the north by Broad St 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 "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" no longer applied.

The East end of the fan is home to Viginia Commonwealth University's Monroe Park Campus and part of the fan's residents are college students attending VCU.

[edit] 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:

Other architectural styles include:

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 manor house.

[edit] 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 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.

[edit] External links

The Greater Richmond Region
Richmond, Virginia | Richmond Neighborhoods

edit
Regional Divisions

The West End | The Fan | Downtown | Southside | North Side | Mechanicsville | The East End | Tri-Cities / Petersburg | Varina-Enon
Surrounding Counties:

Chesterfield | Hanover | Henrico | Goochland
Other Counties:

Amelia | Caroline | Charles City | Cumberland | Dinwiddie | King and Queen | King William | Louisa | New Kent | Powhatan | Prince George | Sussex
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