Norfolk (Va.), Building Inspection Office, Architectural drawings and plans, 1898-1980

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888

Summary

Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

This accession consists of the surviving architectural drawings and plans submitted to the City of Norfolk, Building Inspection Office during the building permit application procedure between 1898 and 1980. A building permit was required for alterations and new construction. The structures documented include apartment buildings, banks, churches, commercial buildings, fraternal society buildings, garages, hospitals, hotels, municipal and state government buildings, office buildings, schools, service stations, single and multi-family residences, synagogues, and the like. Of note are drawings for breweries, lard factories, baseball grandstands, bowling alleys, bakeries, fraternal halls, and oyster packaging plants.

Portions of this collection appear to have been discarded by the locality, presumably utilizing some prescribed criteria. However, documentation of those criteria has not been documented. It seems that the drawings were sampled by decade with only drawings from the first year of the decade being retained (Example: 1950, 1960, 1970, etc.). The surviving drawings sometimes include specifications or other documentation, such as correspondence with the building inspectors, and those materials are housed with the drawings. Some of the early decades maintained alteration drawing sets with the original drawings. Where applicable, this has been noted in the finding aid. Additionally, drawing sets for unbuilt projects were also identified and noted. Building type has been noted in the finding aid. The building type was derived from the building's use at the time of processing. For instance, if a skating rink was converted to a warehouse, it is categorized in the finding aid as a warehouse; however, its previous use is also noted. Further, structures with dual uses, such as a warehouse and office building, are categorized by the first use listed in the drawing title. For the purposed of the finding aid, any single or two family residence (duplex) has been considered a residence; dwellings with three or more families have been labeled as apartments. In addition, buildings with associated uses are categorized by that use. For example, a parsonage is listed under "Church/Synagogue" rather than "Residence." Hotels and motels are both listed under the project type "Hotel."

Some early drawings are marked with numbers that appear to be permit numbers; however, because this could not be determined absolutely, no number was recorded in the finding aid. The finding aid includes only numbers recorded after 1970 as "permit number." Due to the inconsistency in permit numbering, each drawing has been assigned a unique control number to facilitate storage and retrieval. The collection is arranged sequentially by control number. The date of the drawing included in the finding aid is the earliest date on all drawing sheets. Revisions or drawing sheets with later dates are not recorded. Additionally, the date may have been derived from associated documents maintained with the drawings. The information recorded as "Tag Number" indicates the year and number assigned to the drawing on a paper disk formerly attached to the drawing roll. The disks were removed but the information was recorded in the finding aid to reflect the localities record keeping system.

Biographical / historical:

The Department of Public Works was created when Norfolk adopted the a City Manager-style system of government in 1917. Section 52 of the city charter sets forth the administrative departments of government- Law, Public Works, Public Welfare, Public Safety, and Finance- under the City Manager. The Director of the Public Works Department was required to be an engineer by profession with experience in municipal engineering. The department would oversee the construction, improvement, repair, maintenance, and use of all public streets, sewers, culverts, canals, viaducts, public highways, sidewalks, drains, ditches, pumping stations, dams, wharves, landings, docks, parks, playgrounds, cemeteries, etc.

Within the Department of Public Works were the City Planning Commission and Board of Dock Commissioners. Walter H. Taylor, Jr. served as the first director of the department.

Acquisition information:
Transferred from the Norfolk (Va.) Community Improvement Department, 30 October 1984.
Arrangement:

Arranged sequentially by LVA control number.

Physical description:
9,107 sheets, mostly blueprint with some Diazo print and India ink on linen.