The Solar Hill Historic District encompasses an architecturally significant early 20th century residential neighborhood near the center of

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State S ...

. The district covers an area of about , bounded on the north by the

Norfolk and Southern Railroad Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North ...

and Scott Street, on the west by West Street, on the east by Johnson Street, and on the south by Cumberland Street. Solar Hill is a knob of land overlooking the downtown area, and is where the house of the King family, one the area's early settlers, is located. The Kings owned most of what is now Bristol until 1852, when the central portion of the town was laid out, but retained ownership of the Solar Hill area until after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The hill became known as "Solar Hill" when it was used as an official observation point of a

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

in 1869. Solar Hill was sold off for development in 1871, but significant development did not begin until 1890. Between 1890 and the 1920s the area was built up with high quality

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

and

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...

style homes, and had a reputation as the fashionable residential area for Bristol's elite. Many of these fine larger homes have since that period been divided into apartments, or been adapted for use by businesses. The district 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 2001; it is incorrectly classified as being in Washington County.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Bristol, Virginia Queen Anne architecture in Virginia Colonial Revival architecture in Virginia Houses completed in 1871 Houses in Bristol, Virginia {{BristolVA-NRHP-stub

See also

References