Wasena is a Roanoke,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

(

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

)

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

located in south, central Roanoke bisected by

U.S. Route 221 U.S. Route 221 (US 221) is a Spur route, spur of U.S. Route 21. It travels from Perry, Florida, at U.S. Route 19 in Florida, US 19/U.S. Route 98 in Florida, US 98/U.S. Route 27 Alternate (Florida), US 27 Alternate to Lyn ...

(Main Street), immediately to the south of the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the App ...

. It borders the neighborhoods of Raleigh Court on the west,

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 ...

on the north and east and Mountain View via the Wasena Bridge across the Roanoke River on the north, and Franklin-Colonial on the south. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Wasena has a population of 1,633 residents.

History

Taking its name from the Native American word meaning "beautiful view," Wasena was annexed into the city in 1919 and began its development as an early suburb of Roanoke in the 1920s. Nearly all of the structures within Wasena date from between the 1920s and 1950s. The architecture of the area is varied with the largest numbers representing both the

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 ...

Bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

and

American Foursquare The American Foursquare or American Four Square is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass-produced elements of the Victorian architecture, Victorian and other Revival styles popul ...

design for residential construction. Formed in 1983, the Wasena Neighborhood Forum has been a member of the Roanoke Neighborhood Partnership since 1984, serving as a citizen advocacy group for the neighborhood. Today, Wasena is the location of the Wasena Park, Smith Park, Triangle Park, Valley Avenue Park and a portion of the Roanoke River Greenway. Wasena Elementary School is the lone public school located within the neighborhood. The

Wasena Historic District Wasena Historic District is a national historic district located in the Wasena neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It encompasses 574 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, 3 contributing structures, and 3 contributing objects. It is a p ...

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 2012.

References

External links

Wasena Neighborhood Forum

{{Roanoke neighborhoods Streetcar suburbs Neighborhoods in Roanoke, Virginia