# Fan District > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fan_District > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fan_District.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_District > Source revision: 1346827532 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **The Fan** is a [historic district](/source/Historic_districts_in_the_United_States) of [Richmond, Virginia](/source/Richmond,_Virginia) in the United States, so named because of the "[fan](/source/Hand_fan)" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of [Monroe Park](/source/Monroe_Park), westward to [Arthur Ashe Boulevard](/source/Arthur_Ashe_Boulevard_(Richmond,_Virginia)). However, the streets rapidly resemble a grid after they go through what is now [Virginia Commonwealth University](/source/Virginia_Commonwealth_University). The Fan is one of the easterly points of the city's West End section, and is bordered to the north by [Broad Street](/source/Broad_Street_(Richmond,_Virginia)) and to the south by [VA 195](/source/Virginia_State_Route_195), although the Fan District Association considers the southern border to be the properties abutting the south side of Main Street.[3] The western side is sometimes called the Upper Fan and the eastern side the Lower Fan, though confusingly, the Uptown district is located near [VCU](/source/VCU) in the Lower Fan.[citation needed] Many cafes and locally owned restaurants are located here, as well as historic [Monument Avenue](/source/Monument_Avenue), a boulevard formerly featuring [statuary](/source/Equestrian_statue) of the [Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War)'s [Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_of_America) [president and generals](/source/General_officers_in_the_Confederate_States_Army). The only current statue is a more modern one of [tennis](/source/Tennis) icon [Arthur Ashe](/source/Arthur_Ashe). Development of the Fan district was strongly influenced by the [City Beautiful movement](/source/City_Beautiful_movement) of the late 19th century.[citation needed] The Fan District is primarily a residential neighborhood consisting of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century homes. It is also home to VCU's Monroe Park Campus, several parks, and tree-lined avenues. The District also has numerous houses of worship, locally owned businesses, and commercial establishments. The Fan borders and blends with [the Boulevard](/source/Arthur_Ashe_Boulevard_(Richmond,_Virginia)), the [Museum District](/source/Museum_District,_Richmond,_Virginia), and [Carytown](/source/Carytown,_Richmond,_Virginia), which features the ornate [Byrd Theatre](/source/Byrd_Theatre). Main east-west thoroughfares include [Broad Street](/source/Broad_Street_(Richmond,_Virginia)), [Grace Street](/source/Grace_Street_Commercial_Historic_District), [Monument Avenue](/source/Monument_Avenue), Patterson Avenue, Grove Avenue, Floyd Avenue, Main Street, Parkwood Avenue, and Cary Street. ## Architecture Following a succession of owners, an architecture museum called the [Virginia Center for Architecture](/source/Virginia_Center_for_Architecture) took occupancy of [Branch House](/source/Branch_House) on [Monument Avenue](/source/Monument_Avenue) in 2005. The residence was designed in the [Tudor style](/source/Tudor_architecture) by the firm of [John Russell Pope](/source/John_Russell_Pope) in 1916.[citation needed] The Fan is known for having one of the longest intact stretches of [Victorian architecture](/source/Victorian_architecture) in the United States,[citation needed] however much of the housing stock was actually built after the end of the [Victorian era](/source/Victorian_era) and is arguably more [Edwardian](/source/Edwardian_architecture) and [Revival](/source/Revivalism_(architecture)) in style.[citation needed] While housing in the Eastern parts of the neighborhood are quintessential Victorian styles, such as [Italianate](/source/Italianate) and [Queen Anne](/source/Queen_Anne_style_architecture), housing stock further west was constructed in the first decades of the twentieth century and exhibits the pared back victorianism of Edwardian architecture. Homes still contain gables and turrets, but detail is normally executed in a simplified classical form. [Colonial Revival](/source/Colonial_Revival) and [American Craftsman](/source/American_Craftsman) architecture are common as well, with Revival architectural types arguably the most common (as was common to the time period).[citation needed] Primary architectural styles represented include: - [Italianate](/source/Italianate_architecture) - [Richardsonian Romanesque](/source/Richardsonian_Romanesque) - [Queen Anne](/source/Queen_Anne_style_architecture_in_the_United_States) - [Colonial Revival](/source/Colonial_Revival) Other architectural styles include: - [Tudor Revival](/source/Tudor_Revival_architecture) - [Second Empire](/source/Second_Empire_architecture) - [Beaux-Arts](/source/Beaux-Arts_architecture) - [Art Deco](/source/Art_Deco) - [Spanish](/source/Spanish_architecture) - [Gothic Revival](/source/Gothic_Revival_architecture) - [Bungalow](/source/Bungalow) - American [Arts and Crafts Movement](/source/Arts_and_Crafts_Movement) - [James River Georgian](/source/James_River_Georgian) - [Southern Colonial](/source/Southern_Colonial) - [Jacobethan](/source/Jacobethan) (Jacobean Revival) - [Federal](/source/Federal_architecture) ## History In 1817, the Fan was plotted as the village of Sydney on land formerly owned by [William Byrd II](/source/William_Byrd_II). Primary development of the Fan occurred after the [Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War) through about 1920. Streetcar lines leading from downtown influenced development; the nation's first electric streetcar system was inaugurated in Richmond in 1888.[citation needed] As development increased from downtown at the turn of the 20th century, [Franklin Street](/source/Franklin_Street_(Richmond)) became a fashionable "[West End](/source/The_West_End_(Richmond,_Virginia))" address. A desire for a West End address drove rapid real estate development of the area, changing the area from rural tobacco fields in 1880 to being almost fully developed land by the 1920s.[citation needed] As development accelerated, the [University of Richmond](/source/University_of_Richmond) (then located on Lombardy Street) was moved west to a more rural location (its present Westhampton location). During the [Great Depression](/source/Great_Depression), many of the single-family homes in the area were converted to apartments.[citation needed] The term "the Fan" was coined in the mid 20th century by a [Richmond Times Dispatch](/source/Richmond_Times_Dispatch) editorial, as the appellation "[West End](/source/The_West_End_(Richmond,_Virginia))" no longer applied.[citation needed] In 1985, the Fan was added to the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places), and various buildings around the Fan are adorned with plaques noting this and when the building was built.[4] ## References 1. ["Virginia Landmarks Register"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053819/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from [the original](http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm) on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013. 1. ["Area Map ‹ Fan District Association"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130903005847/http://fandistrict.org/resident-resources/area-map/). Archived from [the original](http://fandistrict.org/resident-resources/area-map/) on 2013-09-03. Retrieved 2013-08-23. 1. ["127-0248"](https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/127-0248/). *DHR*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230602190058/https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/127-0248/) June 2, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-06-02. ## External links - [The Fan District Association](http://www.fandistrict.org) - [History of the Fan: A series of historical narratives by Fan District Association Historian Gail Zwirner](http://www.fandistrict.org/about/history) - [Fan of the Fan (community news blog)](https://web.archive.org/web/20120102075221/http://fanofthefan.com/) - [Fan of the Fan: A look at the history and architecture of the Fan Area Historic District](http://fanofthefan.com/2012/01/the-fan-area-historic-district/) - [Wikimapia](http://www.wikimapia.org/#y=37552199&x=-77465801&z=13&l=0&m=a&v=2) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fan District](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_District) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_District?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.