Petersburg, laid out by Col. William Byrd II in 1733 and incorporated by the Virginia General Assembly in 1748, is widely recognized as having an abundance of historic resources that remain extant to this day. There is no clearer indicator of the city’s historic significance than the number of National Register of Historic Places and Virginia Landmark Register listings that it contains. Honorific in nature, these listings recognize the significance of a place, building, site, or area and encourage, but do not mandate, their preservation and stewardship. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources manages the listings in partnership with the National Park Service for properties in Virginia; click here for more information about NRHP and VLR listings. With the most recent addition of the Walnut Hill Historic District, Petersburg has a total of twelve historic districts plus thirty-four individual listings (including the Exchange Building, which is also a National Historic Landmark). Explore all of the listings for Petersburg here. The following list of Petersburg’s NRHP/VLR historic districts will take you directly to the original nomination and associated research and images for each.
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Commercial and Industrial Historic District
Commerce Street Industrial Historic District
Folly Castle Historic District
Halifax Triangle & Downtown Commercial Historic District
The North Battersea/Pride’s Field Historic District
Petersburg Courthouse Historic District
Petersburg Old Town Historic District
Pocahontas Island Historic District
Local governments have the authority to create historic preservation ordinances and historic district overlays; these and other such efforts are locally controlled, are not overseen by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources or the National Park Service, and are not part of the National Register of Historic Places/Virginia Landmark Register process (though they often overlap with or use state and federal historic district listings as a point of departure).
The Petersburg Historic Zoning Ordinance was adopted in 1973 as Article 35 of the city’s Zoning Ordinance. The purpose of the ordinance is to preserve, protect, and enhance the city’s cultural resources. The Architectural Review Board (ARB), supported by the city’s Preservation Planner, administers the Historic Zoning Ordinance. Petersburg has seven locally-designated historic districts that fall under the purview of the ARB; click here for a map illustrating how the seven local districts overlay existing state and federal historic district listing boundaries. They include: Olde Towne Historic Area, Poplar Lawn Historic Area, Folly Castle Historic Area, Centre Hill Historic Area, South Market Street Historic Area, Courthouse Historic Area, and Battersea/West High Street Historic Area.
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