Then and Now

For almost a century, this Roanoke structure has evolved from warehouse to headquarters while remaining a constant along I-581.

In the 1950s, the Roanoker Motor Lodge was a popular Williamson Road motel.

A former downtown firehouse now houses a popular restaurant, as well as a boutique hotel and furniture showroom.

The former Hollins University dining hall has transformed into a multi-use space for student activities.

Roanoke’s first Black high school, Lucy Addison High, is now being reinvented as a Community Empowerment Center.

Mount Regis, once a tuberculosis sanitorium starting in 1914, became an addiction treatment center before the original building was destroyed by fire in 2016.

Once a bustling hub for music, speeches and gatherings—including a visit from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt—Roanoke’s historic auditorium lives on in memories, its former site now a quiet parking lot.

The site for Andrew Lewis Middle School was once home to Salem’s historic Lutheran Orphanage, serving children for over a century.