Well - more like Williamson-5th, but we are getting there.
Allright, lets get this out of the way before the letters start pouring in. I know Campbell does not technically run from 18th SE to 18th SW. But for the short time that Campbell changes to Norfolk SE, and the couple of hundred feet it stops short of 18th St SE by, it is still Campbell 18-18.
Every town has a main street. Roanoke has a Main St. Salem has a Main St. as well. But Roanoke's Main St. is not really its main street. Jefferson is a main street, Grandin could be considered a main street, but the grandpappy main of all is Campbell.
In truth, Norfolk or Salem was the beginning. Due to the proximity of the railroad station, tracks, sidings, freight deliverys, and assorted whatnot; Norfolk and Salem held the lion's share of businesses for many year from Roanoke's inception as Big Lick. But slowly, over the course of a few years, businesses started moving away from the tracks themselves. Probably due to the trains themselves, the noise and smoke and soot - retail is retail no matter what year it is. People expect a certain amount of cleanliness and quiet when they shop - it is very hard to place an order for anything with a steam engine pulling 20 cars slowly rolling by. Try having a cell phone conversation with a freight about 20 feet from your face, not an easy task.
On the 1886 Sandborn Fire Map, there is not much on Campbell itself. At least from Commerce (2nd, and Im not saying it again - get used to Commerce.) back to Robertson (aka Williamson). It was primarily a roadway to get to the Market Square, not much more.
But there was the Trout House. Roughly 500 feet from the corner of Campbell and Commerce stood the predecessor to the Ponce De Leon. There is very little information available about the Trout House so I can only assume it was built to accomidate both travellers and salesmen for the massive Trout, Huff, and Thomas Tobacco Factory.
Spanning the 4 corners between 2nd and 3rd, Campbell and Salem - the Trout, Huff, and Thomas Factory was set dead center in the property - but it was not the only thing there. In January, 1886 when the Sandborn map was produced, the Roanoke Opera house sat on the corner of Campbell and 3rd. You can still find it today, in a sense.
Yes, it was Rorer Hall. Now the site of the Roanoke Times
parking lot. Apparently, as Rhett's site RoanokeFirefighters
has discovered, it was used as a volunteer FD station for a time.Also lining the street was (and yes, this is how its listed) Old Tenements. I guess those don't warrant a plaque though. They held the other half the space of the Roanoke Times parking lot, and probably half of the Times building itself. At this point, what existed of the Roanoke Times and World-News was actually located on Campbell itself - roughly where this is located (or was):
Roughly. Of course, very little from 1886 still stands anywhere, much less in Downtown Roanoke. So we have to bounce ahead a few years. But before we do - between 1880 and 1890, Roanoke expanded exponentially. These were the boom years. But now we can bounce ahead to 1919 - the face of Campbell had changed dramatically. Now there was a Municipal building, built in 1915, which also housed the city jail. Across the street the Roanoke Times had set up shop, the Trout House had burned, and been reborn as the Ponce De Leon.
For a time the Ponce had a huge lawn in the back, with a multi-level porch that overlooked Campbell towards the market. But as Roanoke's popularity grew, the Ponce had to expand. The Great Lawn was built upon, and the porches were no more. Just a solid wall of building was beginning to fill in Campbell between Commerce and 1st. Im going to bounce back to 1903 here for a bit. Before the Great Lawn was built upon.
The Trout Run spring was still above ground at this point. The entire side of Campbell with the PDL was barren, save for 2 shops on the corner of Campbell and 1st. Oddly enough, a sporting goods store and a drug store were the sole occupants of this stretch of Campbell. On the opposite side of the street however, there were signs of the Campbell to come. There was a tin shop across from the Great Lawn, standing roughly where the door for the Hotel Raliegh stands today. There is a building from this time still standing today on Campbell, however not used for its original purpose.
Angell's Funeral Home. Circa 1892. Still standing.
And what better business to have next to a funeral home than... The Roanoke Times! Yes, the entire composing and printing was once done out of these very buildings.
Then, a bit further down the street was a block of 5 buildings, center space being used by the trendiest and most popular mode of transport of the day, bicycles. It was a bicycle sales and repair shop. A bit closer to 1st was a Chinese Laundry. Roanoke was populated by Laundrys and Confectioners for quite some time. Sweet tooth and messy eaters I suppose.
The corner of 1st and Campbell was a real estate and insurance office. Now, it houses the Frank L Moose Jewelers.
The now 100 Year Old State & City building, currently undergoing renovations into condominiums. They will be taking a historical building and making it even more historical (if such a thing is even possible). Expanding the first floor windows and adding awnings to make it more visible and attractive.
So thats Campbell between Commerce and 1st, next week - 1st and 2nd - maybe even a 3rd of 4th.
home