RVA NEIGHBORHOODS: THE FAN

The Fan is a neighborhood located a little west of Carytown and the rest of the more commercialized areas of downtown Richmond. Locals know it as the “Fan” because the district spreads outward from Monroe Park in a fan-like shape. Its 85 blocks are filled with a variety of stunning architecture for the perfect combination of stately elegance and chic urbanity. Today, the Fan’s residents are a mixture of old-school Richmonders and new transplants, many of whom are VCU students that come to the city for school.

​A COUNTRYSIDE SETTLEMENT

Although the Fan is an well-established part of Richmond today, the area was part of the city’s mostly unoccupied outskirts for almost all of the 18th century.  In 1791, there was only a small grouping of rural houses, which formed a community named Scuffletown; believe it or not, the name apparently comes from a militia “scuffle” that occurred there during the American Revolution - one that involved infamous American traitor, Benedict Arnold. About a decade after the formation of Scuffletown, a few lavish country houses, like the Hermitage and the Columbia House, were being built for the city’s affluent. However, it was not until 1817 that serious proposals were made to develop the area. At the time, a group of Richmond investors and land speculators led by a wealthy man named John Harvie gathered together and made grand designs to construct a new town in the area. They named it “Sydney.” Unfortunately, they could not have anticipated the financial downturn that loomed on the horizon. The Panic of 1819 led to the definitive scrapping of the Sydney plans, but the basic street grid from those plans survived and provided the groundwork for the later development of the Fan.

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from rural to urban

After plans for Sydney were abandoned, the area remained a rural outpost with only a few settlements along the major roads heading out of the city. All was quiet until about 1890. By then, the nation’s Second Industrial Revolution was gaining steam. It was a time of factories, railroads, and most of all, economic opportunity. Richmond’s borders began growing westward as people flocked to the city, drawn by the call of industrial jobs. As a result, the market for new homes boomed. It was so intense that investors snatched up entire city blocks in one clip! Construction initially started around present-day Monroe Park and quickly overflowed onto Grace St. and Franklin St. in response to the high demand. Gradually, the lines of the fan shape that we know and love today emerged. More and more people were drawn by the attractive brick row houses and budding public transportation system, and subsequently, schools, like the William Fox School, and churches, like the Tabernacle Baptist church, were built to accommodate the area’s increasing residents. By the turn of the century, the district had filled with Richmond’s fashionable middle class, a trend that continued through the social reform of the Progressive Era and into the decadence of the Roaring Twenties.  ​

​THE DEPRESSION & DECLINE

In a turn of fortune a decade later, many of these once-prosperous Fan residents were forced to pack their bags and leave their homes due to the skyrocketing unemployment and inflation of the Great Depression. Other former Fan homeowners were simply drawn to the newer neighborhoods out west in Henrico County. As a result, many of the Fan’s impressive, carefully-maintained houses became markers of a bygone era. Quite a few were transformed into duplexes, apartments, or boarding houses, and they were shared by multiple families who struggled to get by in an entirely different economy. These homes fell into disrepair as their owners could sadly no longer spare the time or money to care for their upkeep. It was a changed neighborhood.  

THE POSTWAR BOOM AND ONWARDS

The Fan 1948

After World War II, the fate of the Fan once again took a turn as the country was propelled forward by a postwar economic boom. Consequently, numerous working professionals sought out property in the Fan, which was a convenient distance from many of the employment opportunities downtown. The neighborhood once again started to fill up with affluent middle class families, who formed a tight-knit community identity. The hard work and advocacy of locals groups like the Fan District Association and the Fan Woman’s Club further helped the revival of this historic area. Things had begun to look up. As the area was revitalized, housing prices rose steadily, and it became somewhat of a throwback to its pre-war self. Some of the older properties were destroyed in the 1970s in favor of the growth of the VCU campus, but the university simultaneously helped preserve others, like those on West Franklin St., to serve university needs. 

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Today, the Fan continues to be attractive area, maintained by a dedicated neighborhood association. It contains one of America’s longest stretches of intact Victorian houses and is also home to a multitude of other remarkable styles. A walk around reveals charming houses, restaurants, and parks, making it a great point of exploration for locals and tourists. The Fan undeniably remains an integral part of Richmond’s historical and architectural backbone.