Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Carneal & Johnston Architectural Drawings and Plans, 1911-1990. Accession 43738. Business records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond  , Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Ballou, Justice, & Upton, Architects, 2008.

Biographical Information

William Leigh Carneal, Jr. (1881-1958) and James Markam Ambler Johnston (1885-1974) began their firm around 1908 after spending a year working independently out of the same office space. The firm went on to become one of the most prolific and long-established architectural practices in Virginia.

Carneal, born in Richmond   on October 24, 1881, graduated in 1903 from the Virginia Military Institute. He began his architectural practice around 1906 following a three year stint as a clerk in his father's company, Sitterding-Carneal-Davis Company. Johnston, born in Rockbridge County   on May 18, 1885, studied engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Cornell University before moving to Richmond   in 1906. He worked at the Richmond   Cedar Works for one year until he began his own architectural practice.

From 1908 until 1950, the firm of Carneal and Johnston (the firm was known as Carneal, Johnston, and Wright from 1928 through 1945, when Oscar Pendleton Wright was a partner) helped to mold the architectural environment of central Virginia, especially Richmond  . Responsible for over 1,300 buildings, Carneal and Johnston practiced in a wide range of project types, from the mundane to the monumental. While they did execute some residential buildings, the firm generated a far greater number of public, commercial, and industrial structures. Some of their most notable structures include First Virginia Regiment Armory (1913), the Virginia Mutual Building (1919-1921), the Virginia State Office Building (1922-1923), Saint Joseph's Villa (thirteen buildings, 1930-1931), the Virginia War Memorial (1932), and various structures on the campuses of Richmond   College (now the University of Richmond  ) and Virginia Military Institute.

The firm survived following the founders' retirements in the 1950s. Subsequent owners were Miles Cary Johnston, James Beck, and Raymond Browder who sold the firm to employees Carlos H. Costas, W. Fred Hughes III, and Kenneth E. Bunch in 1984. In 1999, the surviving firm of Carneal and Johnston merged with Ballou Justice & Upton, Architects, and ceased to exist as an architectural firm.

Scope and Content

Architectural drawings and plans, 1911-1990, of the firm Carneal & Johnston ( Richmond  , Va.). Included in this collection are 67 projects by the firm, including state and local government buildings, public schools, and private commissions, including residences, banks, rest areas, churches, and some college buildings. Most of the drawings document structures built in Richmond  , Virginia, however a number of buildings from surrounding cities and counties   are also included. These include: Buena Vista, Lexington, Newport News, and Petersburg; Albemarle Chesterfield, Henrico, King William, Mecklenburg, and Montgomery Counties  .