Roanoke has many crossroads, Orange
and Williamson, Campbell and Jefferson, nearly too many to mention. But
few can reflect the ever changing yet always familiar genesis of
Roanoke quite as soundly as Old Southwest, and specifically,
Franklin Rd. in Old Southwest.
There, on the edge of downtown - change has occured many times, and will continue to do so. From what began as a dirt road used by tobacco merchants from the south of Roanoke to haul product into town for use at the old Tobacco warehouses (many of which sat where warehouse row is now, as well as the current location of the Roanoke Times), Franklin Rd in Old Southwest has long held claim as the heaviest used road heading south from the tracks. Today, we examine change. What was, what is, and what could be. This journey will take us from Highland to Luck and the corner of Franklin and Elm.
Consider all you can see from the corner of Franklin and Elm. Construction equipment, a massive legal office, wide open grassy spaces, a tremendous church, and some divergent architecture. One caveat however, historical photos of the area surrounding Elm and Franklin (ie.: Mountain, Highland, Day, and the alleyways) are apparently very hard to come by, however - with the assistance of the Digital Sanborn Maps (provided through the Salem Library) and the Comprehensive City Plan by John Nolen (1928, Stone Pub. Roanoke) I can at least tell you what was there. And how it changed.
September 21st, 1893. The whole town on edge, a black man has assaulted and robbed a white woman. He was quickly captured, and placed into the city jail. But for some, that was not enough. The farmer's wife went around the entire market stirring the pot, raising a virtual army between one and two thousand strong to assemble at the jail, and call for the prisoner to be released to them. The Roanoke PD was doing it's best to secure the jail from the horde, and was so overwhelmed it needed to call in the Infantry to assist them. There, on the steps of the city jail with just steps between them stood the Police and Infantry on one side, a crowd determined on the other. And someone fired.
It should be noted that all cities go through a period of "madness." New York City had the draft riots at the start of the Civil War, when the city burned from midtown to downtown. Detroit, Los Angeles - all cities. They all have a time where somethig snaps, and the town erupts into madness. This was Roanokes.
Someone fired, and soon anyone with a gun was firing. Reports of the day hold that 150 shots were fired total, 9 men were killed, 33 wounded and the very Mayor of Roanoke, Henry Trout took a bullet in the foot. Somehow during all this, the man in question was smuggled out of the jail and taken to safety. But then, against all reason - he was brought back at 3am. A armed crew of fifteen thugs jumped the guards at the corner of Commerce (2nd) and Franklin. They wrested the prisoner away from the guards, and dragged him down Franklin Rd. Hung from a tree at the corner of Franklin and Mountain, he was left there to hang as the thugs celebrated well into the next day. September 22nd, 1893. He was finally removed, and dragged through the streets to the Mayor's residence, presumeably for a front-lawn internment. The Rev. Campbell turned up to convince the men otherwise, and succeeded in doing so. What happened next was beyond all reckoning, as the city was ordered shut down. Every bar, theatre, and street ordered closed. The thugs were still unsatisfied, and dragged the body down to the River (once again, along Franklin Rd.) where it was burned.
The town itself closed down. The body burned, alongside the river, and with it went any talk of the incident. This was the last recorded lynching in Roanoke, never to be mentioned again. But as I said, all great cities have moments of madness.
And it happened here:
The most
likely spot at Mountain and Franklin is the empty lot at 903 Franklin.
In 1893, it had not been developed - not for the entire stretch. The
wall that abuts the brick sidewalk is roughly 5 feet high, and even
still the land beyond it rises. If one could imagine this same spot in
1883, the land most likely sloped down to meet the street halfway
towards the double-yellow.
There is no other high spot on these corners. And no other undeveloped land in 1893.
These stairs tell the tale, the rise of the land.
From this
vantage point, one can see the height. And with no less than 12 homes
(at the time) in direct view of this spot, high above the corner of the
busiest north-south route in Roanoke, it stands to reason the hanging
took place here.
After 1893, the last lynching in Roanoke was an unspoken history. The memory of it was heavy enough to change the area. Homes were put up for sale, torn down to make way for businesses. Churches and Synagogues opened surrounding this spot. Nature finds ways to keep a balance. Further up Franklin Rd, a High School opened its doors - eventually knows as Lee Jr. High School, the annex/gym was 2 blocks to the north of here. That was short lived. Several commercial laundry operations opened across the street and slightly to the north. One using Benzine as its main detergent. And still they were short lived.
A home was buit here, at 903 Franklin Rd. around 1900. Not a palatial mansion, but a home. Probably something along the order of this one.
Judging as
best I can from the very basic sketch of the home at 903, and the year
it was built, this has a high probability of being very similar. This
house is located at the corner of Albermarle and 3rd. It needs saving,
seriously, now.
This area of Franklin Rd. at the tip of Old Southwest has seen many changes over the years, and there is much in the way of history to report. The site of the new Station #1 at Elm and Franklin, currently under construction, is actually consecrated ground - twice over. The 1st Bapitst Church is 2 churches deep, and on the wrong side of the street from where it was. The Poff Federal Building stands on the grounds of the former Lee Jr. High School, originally known as the Central School. And the Verizon building is in the completely wrong location in comparison to the C&P Telephone building historically speaking, but the right location considering C&P abandoned it's Old Southwest location in favor of the site where the Verizon building now stands. And for those of you living at 121 Elm ave. SW - you should know there was a Sanitarium there previously. I hope theres something in your lease about hauntings.
Old Southwest is littered with stairs leading to nothing. Like this one for example:
on 3rd.
St. near Elm. Remnants of houses long gone.
There is quite a bit to explore in Old Southwest, and quite a bit of history to uncover. Consider this the 1st in a multiple part series.
Home
There, on the edge of downtown - change has occured many times, and will continue to do so. From what began as a dirt road used by tobacco merchants from the south of Roanoke to haul product into town for use at the old Tobacco warehouses (many of which sat where warehouse row is now, as well as the current location of the Roanoke Times), Franklin Rd in Old Southwest has long held claim as the heaviest used road heading south from the tracks. Today, we examine change. What was, what is, and what could be. This journey will take us from Highland to Luck and the corner of Franklin and Elm.
Consider all you can see from the corner of Franklin and Elm. Construction equipment, a massive legal office, wide open grassy spaces, a tremendous church, and some divergent architecture. One caveat however, historical photos of the area surrounding Elm and Franklin (ie.: Mountain, Highland, Day, and the alleyways) are apparently very hard to come by, however - with the assistance of the Digital Sanborn Maps (provided through the Salem Library) and the Comprehensive City Plan by John Nolen (1928, Stone Pub. Roanoke) I can at least tell you what was there. And how it changed.
September 21st, 1893. The whole town on edge, a black man has assaulted and robbed a white woman. He was quickly captured, and placed into the city jail. But for some, that was not enough. The farmer's wife went around the entire market stirring the pot, raising a virtual army between one and two thousand strong to assemble at the jail, and call for the prisoner to be released to them. The Roanoke PD was doing it's best to secure the jail from the horde, and was so overwhelmed it needed to call in the Infantry to assist them. There, on the steps of the city jail with just steps between them stood the Police and Infantry on one side, a crowd determined on the other. And someone fired.
It should be noted that all cities go through a period of "madness." New York City had the draft riots at the start of the Civil War, when the city burned from midtown to downtown. Detroit, Los Angeles - all cities. They all have a time where somethig snaps, and the town erupts into madness. This was Roanokes.
Someone fired, and soon anyone with a gun was firing. Reports of the day hold that 150 shots were fired total, 9 men were killed, 33 wounded and the very Mayor of Roanoke, Henry Trout took a bullet in the foot. Somehow during all this, the man in question was smuggled out of the jail and taken to safety. But then, against all reason - he was brought back at 3am. A armed crew of fifteen thugs jumped the guards at the corner of Commerce (2nd) and Franklin. They wrested the prisoner away from the guards, and dragged him down Franklin Rd. Hung from a tree at the corner of Franklin and Mountain, he was left there to hang as the thugs celebrated well into the next day. September 22nd, 1893. He was finally removed, and dragged through the streets to the Mayor's residence, presumeably for a front-lawn internment. The Rev. Campbell turned up to convince the men otherwise, and succeeded in doing so. What happened next was beyond all reckoning, as the city was ordered shut down. Every bar, theatre, and street ordered closed. The thugs were still unsatisfied, and dragged the body down to the River (once again, along Franklin Rd.) where it was burned.
The town itself closed down. The body burned, alongside the river, and with it went any talk of the incident. This was the last recorded lynching in Roanoke, never to be mentioned again. But as I said, all great cities have moments of madness.
And it happened here:
The most
likely spot at Mountain and Franklin is the empty lot at 903 Franklin.
In 1893, it had not been developed - not for the entire stretch. The
wall that abuts the brick sidewalk is roughly 5 feet high, and even
still the land beyond it rises. If one could imagine this same spot in
1883, the land most likely sloped down to meet the street halfway
towards the double-yellow. There is no other high spot on these corners. And no other undeveloped land in 1893.
These stairs tell the tale, the rise of the land.
From this
vantage point, one can see the height. And with no less than 12 homes
(at the time) in direct view of this spot, high above the corner of the
busiest north-south route in Roanoke, it stands to reason the hanging
took place here.After 1893, the last lynching in Roanoke was an unspoken history. The memory of it was heavy enough to change the area. Homes were put up for sale, torn down to make way for businesses. Churches and Synagogues opened surrounding this spot. Nature finds ways to keep a balance. Further up Franklin Rd, a High School opened its doors - eventually knows as Lee Jr. High School, the annex/gym was 2 blocks to the north of here. That was short lived. Several commercial laundry operations opened across the street and slightly to the north. One using Benzine as its main detergent. And still they were short lived.
A home was buit here, at 903 Franklin Rd. around 1900. Not a palatial mansion, but a home. Probably something along the order of this one.
Judging as
best I can from the very basic sketch of the home at 903, and the year
it was built, this has a high probability of being very similar. This
house is located at the corner of Albermarle and 3rd. It needs saving,
seriously, now. This area of Franklin Rd. at the tip of Old Southwest has seen many changes over the years, and there is much in the way of history to report. The site of the new Station #1 at Elm and Franklin, currently under construction, is actually consecrated ground - twice over. The 1st Bapitst Church is 2 churches deep, and on the wrong side of the street from where it was. The Poff Federal Building stands on the grounds of the former Lee Jr. High School, originally known as the Central School. And the Verizon building is in the completely wrong location in comparison to the C&P Telephone building historically speaking, but the right location considering C&P abandoned it's Old Southwest location in favor of the site where the Verizon building now stands. And for those of you living at 121 Elm ave. SW - you should know there was a Sanitarium there previously. I hope theres something in your lease about hauntings.
Old Southwest is littered with stairs leading to nothing. Like this one for example:
on 3rd.
St. near Elm. Remnants of houses long gone.There is quite a bit to explore in Old Southwest, and quite a bit of history to uncover. Consider this the 1st in a multiple part series.
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