We’re celebrating our 40th anniversary with monthly dives into our archives. This month’s look back is from our January 2005 issue.
The Leigh Street Armory in 2005 (Photo by John Henley)
The imposing 122 W. Leigh St., built in 1895 to house the First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Infantry, served as the nation’s only 19th-century armory built for a black militia. Jim Crow restrictions ended that mission. The city-owned building then morphed into a school, a WWII canteen for black troops and in 1985 a meeting place for the board of the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia. A second-floor fire damaged the roof, making it uninhabitable. In 2000, after languishing for years, the building caught the eye of a Richmond-raised tech entrepreneur who wanted to buy the armory and convert it into his residence, but officials denied his request. The armory by 2005 (above) stood in ruin. After years of fundraising and planning, the BHMVA moved there in 2016 from its location at 00 Clay St.
A current photo of the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia (Photo by Ash Daniel)