Gainsboro History Walk Preview

1

Gainsboro History Walk Plaza

This plaza contains extensive information on the Gainsboro Neighborhood and its evolution. Gainesborough was chartered as a Town in 1835 in the area known as Big Lick. It was Roanoke's earliest neighborhood. Over time, the initial neighborhood settlement in Northeast became known as Old Lick, as development shifted to the west for the future Town of Big Lick, and eventually the City of Roanoke. The existing neighborhood of present day, Gainsboro still contains early railroad housing dating to the late 1800s and remnants of Henry Street, once the center of African American business and social activity from 1900 to 1960. Urban Renewal efforts from 1955-1970 destroyed much of the integrity of the once vibrant community. Exhibits include: Frontier to Urban Community, Social & Cultural, Churches, Civil Rights, Education, Health Care, Henry Street, Historical Map and Timeline,

2

Henry Street Business District

Information on Henry Street as the Center for African American Business and Social Life

3

Henry Street Panels

Pictures and Audio Stories of Life on Henry Street - Business, Social, Entertainment, Cuisine

4

Oscar Micheaux - Congo Film Company

The Strand Theatre (also known as the Lincoln Theatre), is one of the few surviving buildings on Henry Street. Famous black filmaker, Oscar Micheaux, operated from this building in the 1920s. Some of his films were shot locally.The building is now part of the Roanoke Higher Education Center which houses the Culinary Institute of Virginia Western Community College. On site is a Virginia Historic Marker for Oscar Micheaux, Black Film Maker There is also an interior lobby exhibit in the Strand Theatre (Lincoln Theatre) for Oscar Micheaux.

5

Dumas Hotel

The Hotel Dumas today has been restored as the Dumas Center. It houses offices and an auditorium.The 1917 building is one of the few that has survived on Henry Street. It was originally constructed as the Hotel Hampton by the Central Manufacturing Company. It originally consisted of 26 guest rooms and housed a cleaning and pressing service, snack bar, ice cream parlor, dining room, two pool rooms, and a second floor ballroom. Hotel Dumas was operated by the Barlow Family from 1933-1976. The Hotel provided lodging for black travelers and entertainers during the Jim Crow days of seregation. It was also a social gathering place for the local Black community.

6

Big Lick Depot

In 1852 the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad built a depot on the north side of the tracks, west of First (Henry) Street. Later the Virginia and Tennessee merged with the Atlantic Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, which later merged to become the Norfolk & Western Railway.

7

Oliver White Hill Law Office

In 1934, Oliver Hill, Sr. the famous civil rights attorney, returned to Roanoke and opened his first law office on the second floor of the Brooks Building located at 40 Centre Avenue after he graduated from Howard University Law School. The building was on the south side of Centre Avenue at the corner of Centre Avenue and Henry Street (now a parking lot). He operated his office until 1936 when he moved to Washington DC.In 1999, Oliver Hill received the Presidential Medal of Honor from President Bill Clinton for his civil rights work for equal pay, better schools, fair housing, and efforts to make facilities equal for all.

8

Norfolk & Western Railway General Office Building South

GOB South was built in 1896 by the railroad at the corner or Shenandoah Avenue and Jefferson Street. It replaced an earlier Queen Anne Style building that was constructed in 1883 for the railroad and destroyed by fire.The existing building is of the Neoclassical Revival Style of architecture. The west wing was constructed in 1903."Designed by the Norfolk & Western architecture department in Philadelphia, the design of GOB-S was inspired by architecture of the Renaissance, an age of humanism that rejected the style of the earlier Gothic period in favor of a more down-to-earth horizontality with rich decorative motifs derived from Greek and Roman structures." Source: National Register Nominationhttps://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/128-5432/

9

Norfolk & Western General Office Building North

GOB North was constructed in 1931 at the corner of Jefferson Street and Centre Avenue on the site of the former Stratford Hotel which had provided housing for railroad employees. The Art Deco Style building was designed by a young apprectice architect, Paul Hayes, while he was employed as a subcontracted draftsman for the N&W Railway during slow business times of his architectural employer, Louis Phillipe Smithey. Seven years after the construction of GOB North, Hayes became a registered architect. He later became one of the founding architects of Hayes Seay Mattern and Mattern in Roanoke. Hayes considered this building his best architectural work. Today, the building is owned and operated by the Roanoke Higher Education Center.The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/128-5432/

10

Stone Printing & Manufacturing Company Building

This impressive stone building was constructed circa 1910 in theTudor Revival Architectural Style. Renovations over the years have altered the original architecture (windows have been replaced and entrances modified). The building was initally the main office for the Stone Printing & Manufacturing Company. Edward Lee Stone (1864-1938) was a civic leader and prominent citizen in Roanoke. An early journalist, he became manager of a printing business in 1885 (at the age of 21) and ultimately, President, of Stone Printing & Manufacturing Company. By 1920, the business was reportedly one of the largest and the best-equipped printing corporations in the south. Edward Stone was very active in many community and public organizations, including the Roanoke City Planning and Zoning Commission which hired famous Landscape Architect/Planner, John Nolen, to develop of the City's 1928 Comprehensive Plan.

11

Hotel Roanoke

Hotel Roanoke is one of Roanoke's most prominent and familiar cultural and architectural landmarks. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.The hotel was built in 1882 by the Norfolk & Western Railway. It was originally a two-and-one-half story, L-shaped Queen Anne style building that fronted on Jefferson Street. Originally constructed with 34 guest rooms, the hotel was expanded in 1890 to 94 rooms. In 1898, the hotel was damaged by fire and portions rebuilt. Additions to the hotel were completed in 1931, 1938, 1946 and 1954. The original landscaped grounds of Hotel Roanoke have survived remarkably intact. The 1931 Northeast Wing is the oldest surviving portion of the hotel. It incorporates a 1916 East Wing which was designed by architects Frye and Chesterman of Roanoke. The 1931 addition added guest rooms and a basement-level garage.The 1938 West Wing is the most prominent and serves as the formal entrance and lobby.It was designed by hotel specialist, Knut W. Lind, AIA of the New York City architectural firm of George B. Post & Sons.The new addition provided new technical advances for the industry; it was advertised as "one of the first in America scientifically desiged for air conditioning."In 1989 the hotel was closed, furnishings auctioned, and the building donated to the Virginia Tech Real Estate Foundation. A new Conference Center was added in 1995. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/128-0025/

12

N&W Railroad Company Passenger Station

Now operated as a visitor center and history museum, this building was constructed in 1905 (Neoclassical Revival Architecture) and redesigned in 1949 by industrial designer, Raymond Loewy, known for his eclectic streamlined, modern product designs that included the Studbaker, Lucky Strike cigarette packs, and the Coca-Cola bottle.

13

1931 Northeast Wing Hotel Roanoke

This is the oldest portion of Hotel Roanoke.

14

Lick Run Greenway

The Lick Run Greenway follows Lick Run on the eastern edge of Gainsboro. The now channeled waterway was an early tributary that fed the Big Lick Salt Marsh located east of Downtown Roanoke. It was a natural attractor for animals and native American hunters.

16

Early Commercial Store and Church Locations

This intersection of Jefferson Street and Gilmer Avenue hosts an early commercial building, Moses Store (circa 1900), which housed a family grocery store and residence (on second floor). Across Gilmer Avenue is a vacant piece of property that once contained the historic First Baptist Church, which was constructed in 1898 and destroyed by a suspicious fire in 1995. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its significance to the black heritage of the Roanoke Valley and for the leadership of its long-term pastor, Reverend Arthur L. James.

17

St. Andrews Catholic Church

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, St. Andrews Roman Catholic Church was constructed in 1902. It is of the High Victorian Gothic Architectural Style. The congregation was established in 1882 when the Catholic population grew due to railroad growth in Big Lick. Father John W. Lynch said his first mass in a rail passenger coach. A small brick church was completed first, followed by a permanent rectory in 1887 (still standing). The new church was completed around the old brick structure, which later was dismantled and materials thrown out the windows of the new church.

18

Gainsboro Branch Library

The Gainsboro Branch Library was built in 1942 for Roanoke's then segregated black neighborhoods. It is of the Tudor Revival Architectural Style and was designed by the Roanoke firm of Eubank & Caldwell. African American leaders called for separate black library facilities in 1920 and again in 1940.In 1921, the first branch library for blacks was housed in a portion of the Colored International Order of Odd Fellows Hall (Hunton Branch Colored YMCA) on Patton Avenue at Gainsboro Road. By 1932, Librarian Virginia Young Lee had organized a youth reading club, hosted lectures from ministers and educators, and assembled a library collection pertaining to black culture.In 1940, Black leaders demanded a new library. St. Andrews Catholic Church owned the former Shanks Foundry property at Patton Avenue and Gainsboro Road. In lieu of paying real estate taxes unknowingly due to the City, the Church agreed to sell the 0.34 acre parcel to the City for $4,709 (the amount of taxes due) for the new Gainsboro Branch Library.Visit the Virginia Lee Room at the Gainsboro Library to research Black history and culture.

19

Claytor Clinic

In 1947, Dr. John B. Claytor, Sr. and his family built the Claytor Memorial Clinic in honor of his wife, Roberta who wanted her husband and sons (Walter, John Jr., and Frank Claytor) to practice together. Dr. Claytor began his medical practice in Gainsboro in 1907 and built his home at the corner of Jefferson Street and Patton Avenue.

20

Oliver Hill Home

Oliver Hill, Sr., the famous civil rights attorney known for his work with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Brown v. Board of Education (1954), was raised in Roanoke. He lived with the Pentecost Family at this house at 401 Gilmer Avenue. He attended Harrison School and moved to Washington DC to attend high school because Roanoke did not offer education beyond elementary school. After graduating from Howard University Law School, he practiced law in an office at 31 Centre Avenue from 1934-1936.

21

Edward Dudley House

Edward Richard. Dudley was the son of Roanoke's first black dentist, Dr. Edward R. Dudley. He grew up at 405 Gilmer Avenue, next door to Oliver Hill. Dudley attended Harrison High School, followed by Howard University, and St. John's University Law School. in 1942 he served as assistant attorney general in New York and then joined the legal staff of the NAACP. In 1949, President Truman appointed him as an ambassador to Liberia. He was the first African Amercan to hold the rank of ambassador in the United States. In 1955, he became Justice of Domestic Relations Court for New York City and in 1962 served as a member of New York City Council.

22

Dr. James H. Roberts Home

Dr. James H. Roberts was a founding member of Burrell Memorial Hospital, the first hospital for African Americans in Roanoke. He lived at 411 Gilmer Avenue. His family continues to own and maintain this historic home.

23

Rufus Edwards Homesite

Rufus Edwards lived at 415 Gilmer Avenue. He was a brakeman for the Norfolk & Western Railway and served as secretary-treasurer of the Association of Colored Railway Trainmen and Locomotive Firemen. In 1944, he was represented by his childhood friend, Oliver Hill, in a Supreme Court Case that resulted in a landmark court decision that allowed African Americans to join and be represented by labor unions.

24

St. Pauls United Methodist Church

Constructed in 1898 as St. James Methodist Episcopal Church, the congregation of St. Pauls purchased the building in 1915. Prior to 1915, St. Pauls operated in the early 1880s from a church at the corner of Henry Street and High Street (Centre Avenue) that was once home to Greene Memorial Methodist Church. Reverend D. W. Harth was one of its well known ministers, who served in many leadership capacities, including a practicing attorney and principal of Second Ward Colored School (Gainsboro School).