Everywhere has its beginnings, and Roanoke's beginnings lead directly to Gainsboro... Specifically, this spot...
(courtesy GIS.roanokegov.com)
Well, not this spot exactly, but close enough for our purposes.
* Just so were clear - Gainsborough and Gainsboro are 2 different places. The former being the original town which spawned Roanoke, located where the 581/Orange Ave. interchange now exists, the latter being the "suburbs" of the small business center directly across the tracks from "Long Lick" - which still runs today under Campbell Ave. *
The photo above is the parking/storage lot for Coca-Cola Bottling on Shenandoah Ave. Obviously something stood here prior to 1930, when Coke opened its first building on the site. A lumberyard associated with another recently-lost building. This one:
(gis). The former office of the Central
Manufacturing Co. Recently demolished, but understandably. It stood
since the 1890's as Gainsboro's largest business - with the Coca-Cola
Bottling Plant still holding its boundries. And prior to this,
there was a simple house. The first house built in Gainsboro. Why so far south? The original Gainsborough was centered around the Orange/581 interchange around 1834. In 1835 (as far as records show) the town was divided into lots, some of which bordered on the new Virginia and Tennesee Railroad (now the NS tracks through the heart of downtown). Some of the lots closest to the tracks sold first, as businessminded people saw the railroad as a perfect opportunity to set up shop.
Then came the Civil War, when Union troops destroyed or rendered useless the railroads, and brought commerce to a halt. Not a single building or sign of the former Gainsborough/Big Lick Depot exists today; but thankfully - as soon as the war was over and repairs began to the rail lines, construction began again.
This time, it was not Gainsborough - it was Big Lick (1874). We shall ignore the irony of Big Lick being outside of downtown (to the east) and Long Lick being directly downtown for the time being. The town limits of Big Lick ran exactly one mile square around the newly-minted depot for the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. In its fetal stages, Roanoke was being born, and its twin of Gainsboro was right there with it.
A look at the records of the time indicates the population of Big Lick as 100 households, nearly equally divided between blacks and whites, and all the companion services, institutions, and sundry that a thriving town would need to serve its residents. South of the tracks was considered Big Lick proper, north - mainly due to it's connection with Gainsborough, was called Old Lick. And Gainsboro was quickly becoming the black Roanoke.
In what should someday be studied for historic purposes, there was a near-immediate effect in Roanoke at the end of the civil war. Perhaps it was because land was cheap and work was plenty, or it could be due to the foundation of the First Baptist Church as a prominently black church. Whatever the reason, Gainsboro was flourishing and nourishing its residents.
There's quite a story to the First Baptist Church itself, actually. The Parish House is all that remains of the church, which was built in 1850 and consecrated as St. John's Episcopal Church, was purchased from the parish of St. John's Episcopal when they determined the building was too small to fit their growing congregation. It was purchased by one Henry Langhorne, a former slave who saved the life of his master - one Col. William Watts, and was remembered fondly in the Colonels will. The church needed to expand around 1898 to accomidate its growing congregation as well, but rather than sell the old and build anew - the decision was made to build upon the existing church - and it stood from 1898 until the 1990's, when a fire destroyed the structure. The Parish House was built in 1938, and is awaiting recogition from the National Register of Historic Places.
Actually, all of Gainsboro is - all 73 acres of it, containing 203 buildings considered historic in some sense. Wether it be the architecture that defined a generation of buildings, or the building itself thats historic - the entire area is up for preservation. But no section more so than Henry St.
In the news lately, as redevelopment and reconstruction are now the buzzwords in the area that I once slated (in my head) for a prime restaurant location. Little did I know...
Let's start with connections: the 100 block of Henry St. The Hotel Dumas.
(gis)Well, the current and future Dumas Center for the Performing Arts was a hotel. No shock there, although a more poetic name was spotted on a recent photo-shoot:
(mine, as any without a datestamp are)The window reads, Empty Arms Hotel. But it's not the Hotel Dumas, no - its the Hotel Hampton. Built by the Central Manufacturing Co. (remember them?) for it's travelling salespeople and VIP's, the Hotel Hampton was built on the site of the former Hotel Pierce (which is of little consequence, but worth noting) in 1916. The Hotel originally offered 26 guest rooms, a snack bar, an ice cream parlor, a dining room, and a 2nd floor ballroom. Without going into great detail, which will be covered in a later page anyway, legend was made at this Hotel. History, local and otherwise were both born here. And the Hotel had it's companion across the street.
The Ebony Club.
Home to Roanoke's other Dr Pepper sign
Well, let's be honest here. The Ebony Club is the name most of us know it as, us youthful folk. And it was the Ebony Club from the 60's to the 80's. Prior to that it was The Morocco Club in the 50's, the Lincon in the 40's, and before that - it was legend. The Strand Theatre. Not the first, but the best known theatre in the Henry strip, the Strand opened on Sept. 3rd, 1922 to with a capacity of 703 people. Although what movie actually opened the theatre is lost (for now) to time, it's a safe bet there was not a seat in the house to be had. From 1922 to 1933 the Strand and its "modern projection system and organ" kept moviegoers enthralled. In 1925, Oscar Micheaux; possibly the first major black director in America, moved into the Hotel Dumas and set up shop across the street at the Strand. As director of 41 movies (1920-1948) and writer of 33, there is little doubt that the Henry Street area and Roanoke in general inspired, if not directly appearing on screen in, several of his films.
Then times shifted - and suddenly, The Strand was no more. In it's place was the "Harlem joint" of Roanoke. The Lincon, and its decendant, the Morocco. If Cab Calloway came to town to play the Ponce De Leon, or Hotel Roanoke - times dictated that he was not able to stay in the place he played.
(I must inject a sidenote here, something everyone needs to understand - Roanoke holds a unique place in the history of segregation and the civil rights struggle. There will be more on this topic alone than any one page can hold. As it directly relates to current events, please keep your eye on the blog for further information.)
Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Duke Ellington.. the list of the famous who spent a night inside the walls of the Hotel Dumas is enough to astound. Those same names, who would play the Hotel Roanoke, would then come back to Henry Street and put on a show at the Lincon/Morocco. The smarter folks from the "other side of the tracks" would follow and witness performances unlike those at the "normal" clubs and Hotels. Henry Street probably played a larger role in jazz history than anyone knows about, given the legendary performers who would shut the town down when they would play an after-show in either the Ballroom of the Hotel, or the club across the way.
There are still remnants of this time, visible since the wall came down, and the chain link fence went up.
Both of these photos are of the back wall at the Ebony Club. The stylized figures easily date to pre-1955, and the poster or portrait-like image is unknown entirely. I've blown it up, photoshopped it, and still cannot make out what it might be, or have been.
And now, onto page 2.
More of the same, as Henry Gains