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History

Strange Days of Roanoke: Shrine Hill

A grand plan by the Shriners in the 1920s would have made Raleigh Court a very different place!

Then and Now: Billy Sample Field

Salem’s Minor League Baseball story began at Municipal Field.

Roanoke’s Secret Library

In the 1940s the Gainsboro librarian was directed to rid the library of materials deemed subversive by white politicians. They thought she had, but they failed to look in the basement!

Strange Days of Roanoke: The Lindbergh Case

Months after his son was fatally kidnapped, famous aviator Charles Lindbergh received a threat against his second child….from Roanoke!

Strange Days of Roanoke: The Gospel Train

How a 13-year-old girl preached to thousands in Roanoke for two weeks in 1925.

Wreck of the ‘ol 29281

Seventy years ago this winter, a B-25 aircraft carrying five crew members slammed into the side of Sharp Top Mountain. Pieces of the wreckage – silent and eerie reminders of the men and of another era – are still strewn on the mountainside.

One Year in Roanoke: 1921

Women’s suffrage helped spawn Roanoke’s first libraries.

One Year in Roanoke: 1991

The Dominion Tower went up as the Hunter Viaduct was coming down.

One Year in Roanoke: 1971

The American Theatre, circa 1927, was at the corner of South Jefferson Street and Kirk Avenue SW. The marquee advertises the silent movie “Thirteenth Hour.”

One Year in Roanoke: 1957

It was a great year for happiness – for Dr Pepper and in Roanoke’s celebrating its 75th birthday.

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A 1920s aerial of the Virginia Heights/Raleigh Court section shows Shrine Hill.

Strange Days of Roanoke: Shrine Hill

A grand plan by the Shriners in the 1920s would have made Raleigh Court a very different place!
c4f5fcdc-c012-11ec-aaf9-12274efc5439-RKRMJ22_Then_and_Now

Then and Now: Billy Sample Field

Salem’s Minor League Baseball story began at Municipal Field.
This 1950s image shows the interior of the library with Virginia Lee behind the main desk.

Roanoke’s Secret Library

In the 1940s the Gainsboro librarian was directed to rid the library of materials deemed subversive by white politicians. They thought she had, but they failed to look in the basement!
The State and City Bank at 102 Campbell Avenue, SW, in 1928.

Strange Days of Roanoke: The Lindbergh Case

Months after his son was fatally kidnapped, famous aviator Charles Lindbergh received a threat against his second child….from Roanoke!
Thirteen-year-old Uldine Utley poses with N&W workers and others at the Roanoke Shops.

Strange Days of Roanoke: The Gospel Train

How a 13-year-old girl preached to thousands in Roanoke for two weeks in 1925.
abeeceb2-5a78-11e2-8503-1231394043be-IMG_1399

Wreck of the ‘ol 29281

Seventy years ago this winter, a B-25 aircraft carrying five crew members slammed into the side of Sharp Top Mountain. Pieces of the wreckage – silent and eerie reminders of the men and of another era – are still strewn on the mountainside.
9b4392e2-dae3-11e1-ae28-1231394043be-1921-Main-Photo

One Year in Roanoke: 1921

Women’s suffrage helped spawn Roanoke’s first libraries.
9b438edc-dae3-11e1-bfa4-1231394043be-1991-Main-Photo-_3_

One Year in Roanoke: 1991

The Dominion Tower went up as the Hunter Viaduct was coming down.
9b3f269e-dae3-11e1-9831-1231394043be-1971-Main-Photo

One Year in Roanoke: 1971

The American Theatre, circa 1927, was at the corner of South Jefferson Street and Kirk Avenue SW. The marquee advertises the silent movie “Thirteenth Hour.”
9b436880-dae3-11e1-b2f5-1231394043be-1957---Main-Photo

One Year in Roanoke: 1957

It was a great year for happiness – for Dr Pepper and in Roanoke’s celebrating its 75th birthday.
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