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Downtown is the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the " city ...
of Roanoke, Virginia, United States. Located geographically at the center of the city, Downtown began its development with the completion of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad in 1882. Today the Downtown core is noted as the center of business for the
Roanoke Valley The Roanoke Valley ( ) in southwest Virginia is an area adjacent to and including the Roanoke River between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Appalachian Plateau to the west. The valley includes much of Roanoke County, as well as the ...
and Southwest Virginia, the Roanoke City Market, the Roanoke Downtown Historic District and many other attractions and amenities.


Location

Geographically, downtown Roanoke is defined by the city as the area bound by
Interstate 581 Interstate 581 (I-581) is a spur off I-81 into Roanoke, Virginia, completely overlapping US Route 220 (US 220). It is planned to be connected to I-73. Future I-73 Corridor signs are marked on I-581 on the southbound side ju ...
on the east, 5th Street to the west, the
Norfolk and Western The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...
railroad tracks to the north and Day Avenue to the south. This area is the location of the central core and the historic Market District. An additional section of downtown is located south of Day Avenue, bound to the east by the Roy L. Webber Expressway, South Jefferson Street to the west and Albemarle Avenue to the south. This area is the location of the former Carilion Community Hospital and the
Jefferson College of Health Sciences Jefferson College of Health Sciences (JCHS and Jefferson College) was a private health sciences college in Roanoke, Virginia. Officially chartered as a college in 1982, Jefferson College is the oldest hospital-based college in Virginia. In 2019 ...
. Downtown borders the neighborhoods of the West End on the west, Belmont on the east, Gainsboro on the north and both
Old Southwest Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...
and South Jefferson on the south.


History

The initial establishment of the Gainesborough in 1835 was located to the northeast of present-day downtown. The first structures constructed in what is now downtown occurred in the period following the completion of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad line in 1852 to the south of Gainesborough. Now known as Big Lick, during the period of
reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
following the American Civil War, the rail infrastructure was restored and the first municipal structure completed in present-day downtown was a jail. By 1881 the Shenandoah Valley Railroad announced that Big Lick would be the southern terminus of its line resulting in the rapid growth and development of the community. With the arrival of the railroad, Big Lick would incorporate as the city of Roanoke in 1882. The rapid growth resulted in the citizens passing a $90,000 bond in 1886 to provide for the infrastructure to support the growing community. With the adequate infrastructure in place, downtown would see a rapid expansion from the area around the present-day Campbell Avenue/Jefferson Street intersection outward. During the period between the wars, Downtown would continue to prosper and expand outwards. Many new structures were constructed in a variety of contemporary styles. Some of the notable structures completed during this period include the nine-story
Boxley Building Boxley Building is a historic commercial building located at Roanoke, Virginia. It was built in 1922, and is an eight-story, granite and beige brick building. It consists of a granite base on the first story, a six-story brick shaft and an unusu ...
in 1921, the eleven-story
Patrick Henry Hotel The Patrick Henry Hotel is a Colonial Revival former hotel listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia, United States. Located at 617 South Jefferson Street at the south ...
in 1925 and the twelve-story Colonial National Bank in 1927, which stood as the city's tallest through the 1970s. The downtown core would continue to see growth and prosperity through the period immediately following World War II and into the 1950s. With the opening of Crossroads Mall in 1961, more shops would close their Downtown doors, with more people choosing to shop outside the city center. Although declining as a retail destination, the 1970s saw a construction boom resulting in a reshaping of the skyline. Both the thirteen-story
Crestar Bank Crestar Bank was a bank headquartered in Richmond, Virginia with branches in Virginia and Maryland. It was the leading subsidiary of Crestar Financial Corporation. In 1998, it was acquired by SunTrust Banks. At that time, it was the largest indepe ...
Building (now the BB&T Bank Building) and the sixteen-story First National Exchange Bank Building (now the Carilion Administrative Services Building) were completed in 1973 and the fourteen-story Poff Federal Building was completed in 1976, with each still prominent features of the downtown cityscape. Established in 1882, the Roanoke City Market is the oldest continuously operating
farmers market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...
in the Commonwealth of Virginia and forms the central gathering place of the Downtown district. By the 1960s the market would begin to decline, hitting its low point in the 1970s. Seen as the key to the revitalization of Downtown, the ''Design 79'' plan was initiated to stimulate the revitalization and redevelopment of the market area. Through its and subsequent plans implementation, the market area was revitalized with the efforts now expanding outside the market area throughout Downtown. By the early 1990s Downtown would again be reshaped with the completion of both the 21-story Dominion Tower (now the Wells Fargo Tower) in 1991 as the city's tallest structure and the twelve-story Norfolk Southern Building in 1992. By the early 2000s (decade) downtown would experience the conversion of many former office buildings, stores and warehouses into residential living units.


Structures and districts on the National Register

*
Boxley Building Boxley Building is a historic commercial building located at Roanoke, Virginia. It was built in 1922, and is an eight-story, granite and beige brick building. It consists of a granite base on the first story, a six-story brick shaft and an unusu ...
* Campbell Avenue Complex * Colonial National Bank * Fire Station No. 1 * First National Bank *
Patrick Henry Hotel The Patrick Henry Hotel is a Colonial Revival former hotel listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia, United States. Located at 617 South Jefferson Street at the south ...
* Roanoke City Market Historic District * Roanoke Downtown Historic District * Roanoke Downtown Historic District (Boundary Increase) * Roanoke Warehouse Historic District * Salem Avenue-Roanoke Automotive Commercial Historic District


Other notable places

*
Taubman Museum of Art The Taubman Museum of Art, formerly the Art Museum of Western Virginia, is an art museum in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It was designed by architect Randall Stout. History In 1947, the Roanoke chapter of the American Association ...
* Center in the Square *
Virginia Museum of Transportation The Virginia Museum of Transportation is a museum devoted to the topic of transportation located in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia, US. children under two years do not to buy tickets and students can get a discounted $10.5 ticket. History The Virgi ...
* Wells Fargo Tower


References


External links


Outlook Roanoke- The Downtown Area Plan

Downtown Roanoke, Inc.

Roanoke Farmer's Market
{{Roanoke neighborhoods Neighborhoods in Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke