Riverside Apartments, Historic residential complex in Newport News, United States
Riverside Apartments is a residential complex made up of two four-story U-shaped brick buildings with sandstone trim and classical details around the main entrances and rooflines. Both structures display the architectural style common to early 1900s worker housing projects.
The complex was built in 1918 by the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation to house workers during the wartime expansion of the Newport News Shipyards. Originally four buildings made up the project, but two were demolished in 1975 and 1979.
The name refers to its waterfront location, which defined the residential district and its purpose for factory workers. Today you can still see the thoughtful design that shows how working people lived in this neighborhood during the industrial era.
The site spans 1.5 acres along Washington Avenue and remains residential housing as it was originally intended. Since people still live here, you should view from a distance and be respectful of residents' privacy.
The project was originally larger, containing four buildings, which shows how wartime industry quickly expanded and then contracted. The two remaining structures today are fragments of what was once a more ambitious housing program.
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