Roanoke Pictures

[rusthebuss]

Well I think your museum up in Roanoke is safe. From my understandings the permanent one in Norfolk, which is suppose to be opening on Dec. 5, is suppose to be about the 200 railroads that combined to make NS what it is today.

[burt]

Monk, thanks for those terrific pictures of the Jefferson High School (a very handsome building) and especially, The American Theatre. If you find any interior shots of the American, I'd love to see them.

Wasn't Heironimus (spelling), the big department store downtown, near the American?

The November issue of Richmond Magazine has a fairly nice travel story about the WWII monument in Bedford and about the Roanoke Hotel and surrounding area. It's not as comprehensive as I would have liked but definitely worth reading.

[StevenRocks]

Wasn't Heironimus (spelling), the big department store downtown, near the American?

Yep, Heironimus was the biggest of downtown's department stores and it was a half-block from the American.

[burt]

I have been savoring the wonderful pictures of Old Roanoke and, so far, have gotten thru Page 42. I noted that Heironimus was formerly a furniture store.

I love the old street cars. Roanoke looked like a really bustling city!

I'll return to the site a little later today. Thanks, Monk, for pointing me in the direction.

[burt]

WoW!! I just finished going thru the whole album. It was great.

One of the things that struck me as odd was that there is only one (interior) shot of St. Andrew's Cathedral (plus a tiny exterior in a montage of buildings on a post card). Isn't that one of Roanoke's landmarks?

[urbanlife]

I have always like Roanoke, such a cool underrated Virginia city.

[electricmonk]

I guess that particular Social Security building isn't happening. I read a month or so ago that everything is still up in the air about it. The city wants to put it in the Gainsboro area and the developer wants it out near the airport and the Gainsboro neighborhood doesn't want it. I believe lawsuits have already been filed. Wish I had posted about it when I read the article, now my memory is hazy.

All too typical for this city.

[electricmonk]

Yeah it is kind of odd they don't have more old photos of St Andrews. My Mom has a book about the building of it. I'll see about getting it and scanning some of it's photos.

Grabbed this shot last night of the Jefferson Center. I was driving home and remembered that I had my camera with me so I pulled over and took this one. I have the rest of the week off of work so I'll try to get off my lazy butt and get some more. They certainly don't build schools like that anymore.

[rusthebuss]

Yeah it is kind of odd they don't have more old photos of St Andrews. My Mom has a book about the building of it. I'll see about getting it and scanning some of it's photos.

Grabbed this shot last night of the Jefferson Center. I was driving home and remembered that I had my camera with me so I pulled over and took this one. I have the rest of the week off of work so I'll try to get off my lazy butt and get some more. They certainly don't build schools like that anymore.

That is a very nice looking building. I see you guys still have snow on the ground!

[StevenRocks]

I have been savoring the wonderful pictures of Old Roanoke and, so far, have gotten thru Page 42. I noted that Heironimus was formerly a furniture store.

Heironimus' building used to be Thurman & Boone Furniture and also housed Woolworth's in what became the Heironimus men's store annex. They moved there in 1955 or '56.

Before, they were at the corner of Campbell Avenue and First Street, in the spot where Miller & Rhoads was from 1957-1986 (or so). Across the street from M&R, there used to be a Grand Piano & Furniture Co. store, which replaced Pugh's, another downtown departemnt store, in the mid '60s.

[StevenRocks]

I don't think it's possible to build anything within the city limits without loads of controversey.

[vdogg]

Can't believe I missed this one.

Roanoke in photos and Roanoke Pictures threads have been merged.

[Spartan]

I recently made a trip to Roanoke, and I was able to get a good walking tour of downtown. It was rather enjoyable. There was a steady amount of foot traffic downtown, though the majority was centered around the Market Square. I really did not know what to expect from the city, so I was suprised that to seemed so 'industrial' as compared to other southern cities I have been to. That said, I can't compare it to other cities in Virginia. The only other city in VA that I have spent any time in is Norfolk.

Downtown was larger than I expected, and I know that I didn't get to all of it. There is a lot of potential here, particularly if they can clean it up a little. I also really liked the newer Wachovie tower, as you can see from my pictures.

a photogenic parking garage and church

I later found out that this 'snow' was actually sleet. Apparantly the area had seen several inches of it not too long ago.

one of my favorite shots

I think this is Church Ave.

from Church Ave looking up Jefferson St I think.

Looking up Market St towards the Market area.

from the Market & Campbell area

My favorite shot of my trip- looking down Market St from the City Market.

More of the Market area.

Wachovia

Salem St

Some trash

I think this is the other side of Market St looking towards the conference center.

Kirk Ave.

The City Market. This place was pretty cool. It had a really great burger place inside, as well an lots of other restaurants. Kinda crowded- but thats good news for the city I think.

This shows some of what can be seen around the downtown area. Something else that could be cleaned up a little.

[Spartan]

Nice building.

The Sister Cities monument.

Back to Church Ave

I like the historic fire station.

Also the historic fire alarm for the sidewalk.

You need a biscuit? I like the old ads on the buildings around the city

I think this is looking up Jefferson St

The other side of Jefferson St.

Beware of the metermaids!

An old building on 1st St. at Kirk Ave I think. Looking like a prime rehab site to me.

The Kirk Ave side.

Looking towards the western terminus of Kirk Ave.

Back to 1st, but with its neighbors.

A former mason buliding apparantly.

Fire escapes

some more trash, but in an archway this time.

The 2nd St bridge.

Looking east on Salem Ave.

The backside of some buildings that face Cambell.

The courthouse maybe?

[Spartan]

The Roanoke Times building

The Transportation Museum, and the reason I had to stop taking pictures.

[StevenRocks]

Nice pics, Spartan!

[burt]

Spartan, super dooper dooper pictures of Roanoke! You make it look much larger and far more interesting and diverse than I remember. I, too, like the Mason Bldg crying out for attention; also the scenes around the Market. Did you stay at the beautiful Hotel Roanoke?

Thanks so much.

[electricmonk]

Nice photos. I always like seeing how out-of-towers picture Roanoke. It's easy to get jaded on your own town and think, "oh I don't want to take a photo of that. I see it everyday." That's one reason I'm glad I found this forum. It's made me take a fresh look at my hometown.

Two shots I took tonight after work. Had to go to the main post office downtown and pulled into the Civic Center lot and grabbed a few shots of the lights. Kinda blurry since I was sitting in the car with the engine running and the street light is in the way but every angle I tried there was one in it. I cropped it out of the first shot. I'm going to try again in a day or 2 with my tripod. Hopefully the decorative lights will still be on. A couple buildings have already turned theirs off.

[Spartan]

Spartan, super dooper dooper pictures of Roanoke! You make it look much larger and far more interesting and diverse than I remember. I, too, like the Mason Bldg crying out for attention; also the scenes around the Market. Did you stay at the beautiful Hotel Roanoke?

Thanks so much.

Thanks guys. I stayed at hotel off of Hershberger Rd. Roanoke reminds me a lot of Asheville, NC, and I see no reason why Roanoke couldn't duplicate Asheville's success. It has a great deal of well preserved architecture and old/historic stores. Lots of great stuff that could happen there.

I also ate at the Texas Tavern, which was awsome. I meant to take a picture of that as well.

[SouthJersey7]

Wow, Roanoke sure is popular. Nice pics Spartan and ElectricMonk. I was just there the other day, and it exceeded all my expectations. I have about 30 or so pics of my own I'd like to post here if that's allright. Mostly downtown, and a few from the transportation museum.

[urbanvb]

Wow, Roanoke sure is popular. Nice pics Spartan and ElectricMonk. I was just there the other day, and it exceeded all my expectations. I have about 30 or so pics of my own I'd like to post here if that's allright. Mostly downtown, and a few from the transportation museum.

Thanks for checking in and do feel free post post pics.

[SouthJersey7]

Allright then, I'll give it a go. These first few are from atop the parking deck directly next to Center In The Square:

Old Firehouse:

Roanoke Sister Cities:

I think they repaint this every couple years or something:

Virginia Museum of Transportation. These are models loosely based on various VA towns and cities:

This old DC streetcar should be used in Roanoke, not in a museum!

Thanks for looking, and visit Roanoke if you get the chance. Good times.

[vdogg]

Those are some excellent pictures of Noke! I really like the first one with the Wachovia Tower.

[rusthebuss]

Those pics are awesome! Take some more when you get a chance! I hope development spreads through there for you.

[wrldcoupe4]

nice pics! I like the Roanoke Hotel!

There's a Uneeda biscuit ad in Richmond like that too! I think it's in Church Hill...

The wachovia tower is nice...but kind of lonely.