Image of Old City Hall, 1909.

Postcard image of Old City Hall, postmarked 1909.

"Completed in 1894, the exuberant Gothic architecture of the City Hall building expressed, as few other Richmond buildings do, the spirit of the City in the 1890s. Having recovered from the affects of the Civil War and Reconstruction, Richmond in the 1890s was abreast with one of the most popular public architectural styles, the Gothic. Old City Hall, as it is now known, was designed by an architect from Detroit, Elijah E. Myers (1832-1909). Myers designed five state capitol buildings as well as other public buildings. Old City Hall is an enduring legacy of Virginia for two reasons. First, the exterior is solid Petersburg granite, a magnificent stone that was quarried locally and overseen by Richmond stone mason George Netherwood. Second, the splendid cast iron interior was manufactured by the Richmond firm of Asa Snyder and Co."

-- Tom Ray, from Greetings from Richmond. 

The postcard image above is an interesting view of Old City Hall. The postcard makers would have you believe it was darker than it really was. Here's another postcard representation - this one with the granite looking more like "Richmond granite" and a few drawn people and carriages (i.e. fake people and fake carriages), also postmarked 1909:

Here's another view:

This image, ca. 1910, is from Capitol Square and shows Broad Street Methodist Church in the background.

To view more early 20th century postcard images of Richmond

- check out this site maintained by VCU Libraries.