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By Kevin Geisert, SMC Reference Librarian. June 2022.

 

The Royster Building is in downtown Norfolk, VA at 201 Granby Street (northwest corner of City Hall Avenue and Granby Street), although the original address was 203 Granby Street.  It was constructed in 1912 as an office building for the Royster Guano Fertilizer Company.  When completed, the Royster Building stood thirteen floors high, which made it the tallest structure in Norfolk.  Ferguson, Calrow & Taylor, a Norfolk architectural firm, designed this historical tower in the Neoclassical style.1  According to the building application, it was built at a projected cost of $350,000.2

The Royster Company remained at 203 Granby Street until January 1976 when it relocated to the ICC (Interstate Corporate Center) building.  In 1977, Royster heirs allowed the NRHA (Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority) to move into their vacated building and use it free of charge.3  For a time, it was referred to as the Granby Mall Building and its address changed 201 Granby Street around 1979.4  Another name change occurred in 1998 when it was rechristened “the NRHA Building.”5 The NRHA was housed in the building for nearly forty years until they moved out in June 2016.6  Following a thorough renovation, the Glass Light Hotel & Gallery (affiliated with Marriott) opened at the location in December 2019 and remains there today.7 

Sources:

  1.  Society of Architectural Historians-Royster Building. https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VA-01-NK23 and Norfolk and Berkley City Directory 1914, Hill Directory Company, Inc., Page 595.
  2. Royster, F. S.  Building Application-Royster Building.  8 January 1912.  Permit #5333-Box 8, Folder 3, Item 1 and Box 22, Folder 2.  RG 22-2016-001.  
  3. Norfolk Ledger-Star (Norfolk, VA), 1 November 1977, Page A5.  “NRHA Begins Move to Mall.”

  4. 1979 Norfolk (Virginia) City Directory, Hill Directory Company, Page 181.

  5. Glass, Jon.  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 15 December 1998, Page B1.  “NRHA Unveils Sparkling Refurbished Office Tower.”

  6. Hartley, Eric.  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 11 June 2016, Page A1.  “Developer Proposes 120-Room Boutique Hotel for Granby Street in Downtown Norfolk.”

  7. Smith, Farah Rose.  Blog entry, 19 February 2020.  The Glass Light Hotel, a Longtime Dream of Norfolk Arts Patrons Doug and Pat Perry, Opens for Business While Gallery Construction Continues. https://urbanglass.org/glass/detail/glass-light-hotel

 

 

Street Address:

203 Granby Street (1912-1979),

201 Granby Street (1979-Present)

Name (Original)

Royster Building

Name (Also Known As)

Granby Mall Building, NRHA Building, Glass Light Hotel & Gallery

Architect:

Ferguson, Calrow & Taylor

Contractor:

J. Henry Miller, Inc.

Architectural Style

Neoclassical

Cost (Original)

$350,000

Construction Date:

1912

Opening Date:

Circa December 1912

Demolition Date:

Still standing

GPS:

36.84835, -76.29175

Major Keywords/Search Terms: Royster Building | Royster Guano Fertilizer Company | Ferguson, Calrow & Taylor | J. Henry Miller, Inc. | Granby Street | Neoclassical | Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NRHA) | Glass Light Hotel & Gallery | Granby Mall Building 

Sources:

 

1.   Primary Sources:

       

      1)    Books:

 

                           City Directories: (Selective)

  • 1914 Norfolk, VA City Directory, Page 595.
  • 1979 Norfolk, VA City Directory, Page 181.
  •  1995 Norfolk, VA City Directory, Page 226.
  •  2021 Norfolk, VA City Directory, Page 205.

 

      2)  Documents and Collections:

  • Royster Building NRHA Architectural Drawings (8 folders), RG 06-2015-002.  http://smcarchives.libraryhost.com/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=689&q=royster.
  • Royster, F. S.  Building Application-Royster Building.  8 January 1912.  Permit #5333-Box 8, Folder 3, Item 1 and Box 22, Folder 2.  RG 22-2016-001.
  • Block 155, Guaranty Title and Trust Corporation Records, MSS 0000-052, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia

 

      3)  Maps/Plats/Surveys:

  • Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.  Norfolk, VA, 1928 edition. Volume 1, sheet 7.
  • Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.  Norfolk, VA, 1928-1950 edition. Volume 1, sheet 7.
  • Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.  Norfolk, VA, 1970 edition. Volume 1, sheet 7.

 

      4)  Newspaper/Magazines/Journals:

  • “Mr. Royster Buys Granby St. Property.” The Norfolk Landmark (Norfolk, VA), 19 January 1910, Page 1.
  •  “Big Buildings to Be Erected Here.” Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), 18 June 1910, Page 1.  

  •  “Plans for the New Royster Sky-Scraper.” Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), 6 March 1911, Page 6.  

  • “Steel Frame Completed.” The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 18 July 1912, Page 3.  
  •  “Fortunes in Reclaimed Land.” The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 2 February 1913, Page 23. 
  •  “New Royster Skyscraper.” Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), 21 April 1911, Page 1.
  •  “Royster Building to be Renovated.”  Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), 2 July 1968, Page 14.
  • “NRHA Considers Move to Royster Building.”  Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), 28 October 1976, Page B1.
  •  “NRHA Begins Move to Mall.”  Norfolk Ledger-Star (Norfolk, VA), 1 November 1977, Page A5.
  •  “NRHA and the Royster Building.”  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 1 November 1977, Page A14.
  •  “Contracts Okayed for Royster Work.”  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 8 February 1978, Page B5.
  •  Phillips, Joseph V.  “Virginia National Bank Buys Royster Building.”  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 22 June 1979, Page D3. 
  •  Glass, Jon.  “City Revival Agency Will Shore Up Its Granby Street Home.”  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 17 June 1997, Page B5. 
  •  Glass, Jon.  “NRHA Unveils Sparkling Refurbished Office Tower.”  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 15 December 1998, Page B1 and B9.
  •  Hoyer, Meghan.  “Housing Agency Says Time is Right to Move Headquarters.”  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 12 August 2008, Page 3.  
  •  Hoyer, Meghan.  “Out With the Old (Maybe), In With a New.” The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 15 March 2011, HR Page 3. 
  •  Hartley, Eric.  “Developer Proposes 120-Room Boutique Hotel for Granby Street in Downtown Norfolk.” The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 11 June 2016, Page A1. 

 

     5)  Photographs:

  • Folders: “City Hall Avenue, images # 1-4.”  Royster Building.  Carroll Walker Photograph Collection, MSS 0000-048, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
  • Folders: “Granby Street, images # 2, 4-12, and 14.”  Royster Building.  Carroll Walker Photograph Collection, MSS 0000-048, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
  • Folders: “City Hall Avenue, images # 1, 3-5, and 7-8.”  Royster Building.  Sargeant Memorial Collection Main Photograph Collection, MSS 0000-MPC, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
  • Folders: “Granby Street, images # 2, 4-5, 9, 11, and 13.”  Royster Building.  Sargeant Memorial Collection Main Photograph Collection, MSS 0000-MPC, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.

2)    Secondary Sources:

 

              1)    Books and Pamphlets:

  • Shank, Joseph E.  Shank’s Raw Materials, Vol. V, 1906-1919.  Pages 1633 and 1636.    

  • Wells, John E. and Robert E. Dalton.  The Virginia Architects 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary.  New South Architectural Press, 1997.  Page 142.

 

              2)  Documents and Collections:

  • Folder: “Norfolk, VA Buildings-“Royster Building.”  Sargeant Memorial Collection Norfolk Clippings Files, MSS 0000-NCF, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Virginia.
  • Sargeant Memorial Collection Card Catalog.  Legacy Subject.  “Royster Building,” Royster Co.,” Royster Company of Norfolk,” and “Royster Guano Company.”
  •  The Virginian-Pilot Index Cards, MSS 2020-005.  Subject: 1947-1980: “Royster Building” and “Royster Building-Old.” 

 

              3)  Websites:

3)    Resources at Other Institutions:

 

              1)    Library of Virginia:  

    Six photographs within the Harry Cowles Mann Photograph Collection 

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