The story below is from our September/October 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
What was once the county courthouse is now a Roanoke College staple for faculty and students.
The daily scene at the corner of College Avenue and Main Street in Salem looks quite different than it did 113 years ago.
College students carrying book bags and cell phones spill out of a historic building that was built in 1910 for judge’s chambers, courtrooms and legislative offices. Now it is home to Roanoke College professors’ offices and classrooms.
It was Roanoke County’s courthouse. Now it is West Hall, which Roanoke College purchased from the county in 1987 to house several academic departments, from business administration and economics to religion and philosophy.
There’s a lot of history within those walls.
In the early 1840s, Roanoke County paid $400 for the courthouse site on Main Street and built a two-story brick courthouse. The courthouse’s front lawn served as a community gathering spot for band concerts, ice cream socials, celebrations and public sales, according to a historical account written as part of a dedication program for the current courthouse.
The original courthouse was demolished in 1909 because of decay, and a new courthouse went up in 1910. Seventy-five years later, in 1985, Roanoke County moved the courthouse to a new neighboring location on Main Street, as part of a $5.5 million project that at the time housed seven courtrooms.
The former courthouse has been listed on the National Landmarks Register.
Nowadays, West Hall, which is named for Francis T. West, a Roanoke College graduate and businessman, is home to the college’s departments of business and economics, religion and philosophy and public affairs. Additionally, courses for the college’s new master of business administration are held there.
The story above is from our September/October 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
