Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 11/05/1968
NRHP Listing Date 06/11/1969
NRHP Reference Number 69000354
The three bow-fronted Italianate town houses forming Morson’s Row were erected as rental properties in 1853 by James Marion Morson, and are the last vestige of the former residential character of Richmond’s Capitol Square. The row is attributed to Richmond architect Albert Lybrock, because Lybrock listed Morson as a client in 1854, and the houses are in the Italianate idiom Lybrock favored. Little changed inside or out, each house has an oval parlor with cherry and mahogany woodwork and heavily-carved Victorian marble mantels. Beginning in 1920, 223 Governor Street was occupied for several decades by the Southern Planter Publishing Company. A. E. Peticolas, an anatomist, first rented 221 Governor Street; and it later was the home of Dr. Robert Gamble. The row is now the property of the Commonwealth, and during the last quarter of the 20th century it housed the Department of Historic Resources. In 2022 Morson’s Row was renamed Reid’s Row, honoring the first African American Virginia lawmaker elected in the 20th century.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: June 3, 2022
