Roanoke City Market Historic District, also known as City Market District, is a national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

located in the

Downtown Roanoke Downtown is the central business district 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 c ...

area of

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

. The district's history dates to 1882, when the Norfok and Western Railway (N&W) began the process of locating its headquarters to the small town of Big Lick. That decision precipitated a name change for the town to Roanoke, as well as a migration of the town's business district southeast towards the new

railroad depot A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a Rail transport, railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passenger train, passengers, freight rail transport, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one r ...

and

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

being built by the N&W. A town square along Campbell Avenue began seeing use as a makeshift

open-air market A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

, and in 1884 the new City of Roanoke's original charter provided for the construction of a municipal market. Completed in 1886, the original market building occupied the northwestern portion of the square; when that building was destroyed by fire it was replaced in 1922 with the current building and its centered arrangement. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1983, with an area roughly bounded by Williamson Rd., Norfolk Ave., S. Jefferson St., and Church Ave. The district area was increased to include 302 Campbell Ave., SE, and 9 Church Ave, SE, in 2002. The district encompasses 51 contributing buildings and 1 contributing object. The focal point of the area's grid-plan is the City Market Building (1922) set in the middle of the central Market Square. Other notable buildings include the Hartsook Building (1897), Lampros Building (1909), the McGuire Building (1914), and the Goria Brothers Grocery Building (1924). Located in the district is the separately listed Fire Station No. 1.

Gallery

File:Roanoke City Market Historic District.jpg, Roanoke City Market Historic District, June 2010 File:Roanoke City Market District at night.jpg, Roanoke City Market Historic District at Night

References

External links

City Market Building, Market Street & Campbell Avenue, Roanoke, Roanoke City, VA
1 photo and 1 photo caption page at

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Roanoke, Virginia Buildings and structures in Roanoke, Virginia Victorian architecture in Virginia {{RoanokeCityVA-NRHP-stub