Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District

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Coordinates: 37°16′23″N 79°56′31″W / 37.27306°N 79.94194°W / 37.27306; -79.94194
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Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District
Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District, June 2010
Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District is located in Virginia
Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District
Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District is located in the United States
Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District
Location88 and 108 Jefferson St. NW, and 209 Shenandoah Ave., Roanoke, Virginia
Coordinates37°16′23″N 79°56′31″W / 37.27306°N 79.94194°W / 37.27306; -79.94194
Area4.9 acres (2.0 ha)
Built1896 (1896), 1903, 1931, 1905, 1949
ArchitectLoewy, Raymond; et al.
Architectural styleClassical Revival, Art Deco, Moderne
NRHP reference No.99000076[1]
VLR No.128-5432
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 27, 1999
Designated VLRSeptember 14, 1998[2]

Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District is a national historic district located in Roanoke, Virginia. It encompasses three contributing buildings constructed by the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W). They are the Neoclassical Revival style General Office Building–South (1896, 1903); the Art Deco period General Office Building–North (1931); and the Moderne style Passenger Station (1905, 1949).

History[edit]

The eastern wing of the General Office Building–South was constructed in 1896 on the site of the prior N&W headquarters building that had been destroyed in a fire in January of the same year.[3] The western wing – a duplicate of the eastern – was erected in 1903 and connected to the first via a hyphen.[4] These structures were followed in 1931 by the construction of General Office Building–North, located next to the GOB–South and connected to it by a skywalk. GOB–North's Art Deco architecture utilizes similar design elements to New York City's Chrysler Building.[4] The Passenger Station is located just east of GOB–South and downhill from the Hotel Roanoke (which was also constructed and owned by N&W). Built in 1905 and designed initially in the Neoclassical Revival style, the station saw a 1949 renovation in the Moderne style by industrial designer Raymond Loewy, and has been called "perhaps [his] finest architectural work".[4]

In 1992 N&W's successor Norfolk Southern moved into a new office building in Downtown Roanoke and donated the former offices to a nonprofit foundation.[5] The two wings comprising GOB–South were converted to upscale apartments in 2002,[5] while GOB–North is the home of the Roanoke Higher Education Center.[6] The Passenger Station was converted into offices when passenger service ended in the city in 1971, and was vacant from 1992 until being purchased by the Center in the Square foundation in 2000.[7] As of 2023 it houses the city's visitor center, the Historical Society of Western Virginia, and the O. Winston Link Museum.[8]

The three buildings were collectively listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.[2]

Gallery[edit]

  • The Passenger Station as it appeared in 1909
    The Passenger Station as it appeared in 1909
  • The Passenger Station in the 1950s, after the Raymond Loewy renovation
    The Passenger Station in the 1950s, after the Raymond Loewy renovation

References[edit]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Virginia Landmarks Register" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Barnes, Raymond (1968). A History of the City of Roanoke. Commonwealth Press, Inc. p. 284.
  4. ^ a b c Douglas J. Harnesberger and Nancy Kraus (July 1998). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying two photos and Accompanying map Archived 2012-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b Stewart, Keisha. "Old N&W Offices are Downtown's Newest Address - Apartments at Eight Jefferson Place will Rent From $545 TO $1,195." Roanoke Times, The (VA), May 31, 2002: B1.
  6. ^ Edwards, John S. "Twenty years of the Roanoke Higher Education Center." Roanoke Times, The (VA), August 19, 2020: 51B.
  7. ^ Kittredge, Kevin. "Preserving Link's Place in Railroad History." Roanoke Times, The (VA), January 10, 2001: 1.
  8. ^ Koomen, Christina. "Preservation awards salute adaptive uses Everything old is new again." Roanoke Times, The (VA), November 27, 2022: 1C.
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