The Ponce De Leon.
Located at the corner of Campbell and 2nd (formerly Commerce), the
Crystal Springs Building as it is now called, was for many a year the
Ponce De Leon. But lets go back, roughly 100 years from today - to
1905. 
Completely different. Nearly unrecognizeable to
the Roanoker of the past 50 years. This is the Ponce of 1886, built of
white brick - and a shining beacon to both railroad workers and
travellers alike. Prior to this, the Ponce was known as the Trout
House. A small inn built by (depending on your source) A. Campbell or
J. Trout. Both men of vast importance in Roanoke at the time, both with
the funds and desire to build such a thing. Across the street was the
Trout Tobacco Warehouse back when the original structure went up. The
original Trout House was a victorian design, not all that different
from what can be seen in Old Southwest Roanoke these days. Of course,
it would be like one of the larger houses. If memory serves me, it had
6 rooms for rent, making it capable of taking nearly an entire train
crew back in the day.
The white brick version you see above was built in 1886, after a fire wiped the old Trout House (which had been significantly added on to) clean off the map. When the 1886 structure opened, they built it directly on top of a stream. Seems odd, but one of the running advertisements for the Ponce through the years was ice cold water. The stream was and still is fed from an underground source, and once had trout living in it. Stay in the penthouse, go fishing in the basement - its an idea. If you study the above picture, off the corner of the building where the entrances are - as you head down Campbell, you find the building seems to drop halfway underground. This was the former location of the Roanoke Times unofficial meeting room. The Pipe Room, as Ben Beagle descibes it, "the famous Pipe Room, which was as striking a tavern as Roanoke has ever seen." The article from which I gleaned that quote was published in 1992, when the Ponce De Leon was undergoing its final transformation into what we know it as today. But we are not done with the ol Ponce just yet.
From the December 29, 1930 New York Times, this
article captures the moment when the Ponce De Leon as we see it above
ceased to exist. This fire sufficiently gutted the building enough that
it was no longer considered habitable. But the Ponce was still a hotel.
And a fairly well known hotel at that. The Ponce could not go out of
business. She was rebuilt in 1931.
This is the last photo taken of the Old Ponce,
showing her in all her glory. For a traveller from out of town,
arriving at the Station a few blocks away and being shuttled by private
car to the Ponce, seeing the street level lined with shops and
restaurants. If you compare this with the photo above, you will notice
that by this time the hotel had expanded. Where its former "back lawn"
and stacked porches used to be is now a stone and steel addition to the
hotel. In these days, the Roanoke Times & World-News was a divided
house. Some of the facilities were across the street where they now own
the block, but some were in the original location still - just slightly
down Campbell and across from the Ponce.
But it was now the 1930's. Deco was king. It was time for a new Ponce to rise.
This was the way
I first viewed the Ponce De Leon. All I really knew was there was some
amazing Art Deco work on the building. I did not realize that on my
first trip to the market, back sometime around 1995, that just a few
short years before this had been a hotel. I have only seen one postcard
of the interior, but it looked stunning. There was a fountain, fed by
the stream below. The stream, which incidentally, runs from the site of
the Ponce De Leon all the way down Campbell, and can be seen emerging
from underground next to the Norfolk Southern tracks just past the
Williamson Road bridge. The interior was marble, there were 2 (I
believe) barbershops on the ground floor, along with at least one
restaurant that I know of, and several smaller shops.
This is a detail of one of the two pillars on the 2nd St. Entrance,
across from the Roanoke Times. Looking through this doorway, one can
see the stairs which go down to the basement, and the stairs to the
lobby. What seems to be the main entrance to the building is on the
Campbell Ave. side, and has slightly reflective glass, 2 sets of doors,
making it nearly impossible to see in there. But through this side
entrance, the lobby can be glimpsed just up the stairs, and it looks
incredible.
This photo shows the art deco touches given to the building at street level, along with some of the original wood moulding. This photo, however - shows the effects of either time or a good powerwashing.
This
is the same doorway, right side. Taken the same day at that. I have no
explanation currently as to why the difference. The best I can figure
is a powerwashing went awry, the worst I can figure is that they tried
to remove the art, but found it too difficult and gave up.
In 1967, the building was sold to a local developer, who renamed it after a project he was working on. The Crystal Tower. It operated as a hotel for a good number of years after, still with the bar in the basement. The spring bubbling on. Very little was done to change the interior, with one exception. Roanoke had hit a downtime, the PDL was now home to a good number of bad girls. Rail Crews and Bus Drivers with Trailways/Greyhound were nearly the only guests. For a good number of years, the top two floors were the only ones still being used as Guest rooms. What the rest of the space was used for is a mystery. In 1992 the last guests had checked out, and the building was being converted from hotel rooms to office space. TAP had moved in, and needed to revamp the space for their needs. To this day, TAP is there, the spring is there, and the Hotel Ponce De Leon lives on. The Ponce is not done yet with Roanoke, and I am not done yet with the Ponce.
this is a view of the stream, as it emerges out of
the building and into daylight for a short time.
Completely different. Nearly unrecognizeable to
the Roanoker of the past 50 years. This is the Ponce of 1886, built of
white brick - and a shining beacon to both railroad workers and
travellers alike. Prior to this, the Ponce was known as the Trout
House. A small inn built by (depending on your source) A. Campbell or
J. Trout. Both men of vast importance in Roanoke at the time, both with
the funds and desire to build such a thing. Across the street was the
Trout Tobacco Warehouse back when the original structure went up. The
original Trout House was a victorian design, not all that different
from what can be seen in Old Southwest Roanoke these days. Of course,
it would be like one of the larger houses. If memory serves me, it had
6 rooms for rent, making it capable of taking nearly an entire train
crew back in the day. The white brick version you see above was built in 1886, after a fire wiped the old Trout House (which had been significantly added on to) clean off the map. When the 1886 structure opened, they built it directly on top of a stream. Seems odd, but one of the running advertisements for the Ponce through the years was ice cold water. The stream was and still is fed from an underground source, and once had trout living in it. Stay in the penthouse, go fishing in the basement - its an idea. If you study the above picture, off the corner of the building where the entrances are - as you head down Campbell, you find the building seems to drop halfway underground. This was the former location of the Roanoke Times unofficial meeting room. The Pipe Room, as Ben Beagle descibes it, "the famous Pipe Room, which was as striking a tavern as Roanoke has ever seen." The article from which I gleaned that quote was published in 1992, when the Ponce De Leon was undergoing its final transformation into what we know it as today. But we are not done with the ol Ponce just yet.
From the December 29, 1930 New York Times, this
article captures the moment when the Ponce De Leon as we see it above
ceased to exist. This fire sufficiently gutted the building enough that
it was no longer considered habitable. But the Ponce was still a hotel.
And a fairly well known hotel at that. The Ponce could not go out of
business. She was rebuilt in 1931. This is the last photo taken of the Old Ponce,
showing her in all her glory. For a traveller from out of town,
arriving at the Station a few blocks away and being shuttled by private
car to the Ponce, seeing the street level lined with shops and
restaurants. If you compare this with the photo above, you will notice
that by this time the hotel had expanded. Where its former "back lawn"
and stacked porches used to be is now a stone and steel addition to the
hotel. In these days, the Roanoke Times & World-News was a divided
house. Some of the facilities were across the street where they now own
the block, but some were in the original location still - just slightly
down Campbell and across from the Ponce. But it was now the 1930's. Deco was king. It was time for a new Ponce to rise.
This was the way
I first viewed the Ponce De Leon. All I really knew was there was some
amazing Art Deco work on the building. I did not realize that on my
first trip to the market, back sometime around 1995, that just a few
short years before this had been a hotel. I have only seen one postcard
of the interior, but it looked stunning. There was a fountain, fed by
the stream below. The stream, which incidentally, runs from the site of
the Ponce De Leon all the way down Campbell, and can be seen emerging
from underground next to the Norfolk Southern tracks just past the
Williamson Road bridge. The interior was marble, there were 2 (I
believe) barbershops on the ground floor, along with at least one
restaurant that I know of, and several smaller shops.
This is a detail of one of the two pillars on the 2nd St. Entrance,
across from the Roanoke Times. Looking through this doorway, one can
see the stairs which go down to the basement, and the stairs to the
lobby. What seems to be the main entrance to the building is on the
Campbell Ave. side, and has slightly reflective glass, 2 sets of doors,
making it nearly impossible to see in there. But through this side
entrance, the lobby can be glimpsed just up the stairs, and it looks
incredible. This photo shows the art deco touches given to the building at street level, along with some of the original wood moulding. This photo, however - shows the effects of either time or a good powerwashing.
This
is the same doorway, right side. Taken the same day at that. I have no
explanation currently as to why the difference. The best I can figure
is a powerwashing went awry, the worst I can figure is that they tried
to remove the art, but found it too difficult and gave up.In 1967, the building was sold to a local developer, who renamed it after a project he was working on. The Crystal Tower. It operated as a hotel for a good number of years after, still with the bar in the basement. The spring bubbling on. Very little was done to change the interior, with one exception. Roanoke had hit a downtime, the PDL was now home to a good number of bad girls. Rail Crews and Bus Drivers with Trailways/Greyhound were nearly the only guests. For a good number of years, the top two floors were the only ones still being used as Guest rooms. What the rest of the space was used for is a mystery. In 1992 the last guests had checked out, and the building was being converted from hotel rooms to office space. TAP had moved in, and needed to revamp the space for their needs. To this day, TAP is there, the spring is there, and the Hotel Ponce De Leon lives on. The Ponce is not done yet with Roanoke, and I am not done yet with the Ponce.
this is a view of the stream, as it emerges out of
the building and into daylight for a short time.