Timeline walk at Roanoke Higher Education Center honoring history of Gainsboro

Central Walkway at Roanoke Higher Education Center

Virginia Historic Marker on Black filmaker Oscar Micheaux

Oscar Micheaux Marker

This builidng was constructed about 1945.

Dr. Lylburn Downing’s Office

Built 1953 for office of Civil Rights Attorney Reuben Lawson.

Lawson Building (401 Gainsboro Road)

Former location of brick tavern built in 1837 by Zachariah Robinson.

Magnolia Tavern site

Built in 1928 as Lucy Addision High School, to serve African American students.

Lucy Addison High School (1928)

Built in 1916 as an elementary school for African American students.

Harrison School

Rufus Edwards was the plaintiff in a Supreme Court Case that allowed Black workers to join formerly White labor unions.

Rufus Edwards Homesite

Dr. Roberts was a founding member of Burrell Memorial Hosptial.

Dr. James H. Roberts House

Home to dentist Dr. Edward R. Dudley and where son, Amabassador Edward Dudley, was raised.

Dudley House

Oliver Hill Sr., civil rights attorney, was raised in this home.

Oliver Hill House & Historic Marker

This Circa 1900 building housed a store with residence above.

Moses Store

Some of the houses on this block were constructed by the Roanoke Land & Improvement Company.

Gilmer Avenue, NE (100 Block)

Lick Run, now channeled, fed the Big Lick Salt Marsh located east of Downtown Roanoke.

Lick Run

Now a visitor center and history museum, this building was constructed in 1905 and redesigned in 1949 by Raymond Loewy

N&W Railway Passenger Station

Constructed in 1896 in the Neoclassical Revival Style.

Norfolk & Western General Office Building, South

Constructed in 1931 in the Art Deco Style.

Norfolk & Western General Office Building, North

Information about buildings formerly located on Centre Avenue - Oliver Hill Office, Virginia Theatre, High Street Baptist, Booker T Washington Trade School

Centre Avenue Marker

Describes the location of the Big Lick Depot.

Big Lick Depot Marker

Pictures and Audio Stories of Life on Henry Street - Business, Social, Entertainment, Cuisine

Life on Henry Street Panels at RHEC

Information on Henry Street as the Center for African American Business and Social Life. 

Henry Street Business District Marker

Constructed in 1891 by N&W Railway as a crossing over the railroad tracks connecting Gainsboro and downtown. Renovated 2007. 

Henry Street Bridge

Plaza Memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. with bronze statue was dedicated in 2008. 

Martin Luther King Memorial

This plaza contains extensive information on the Gainsboro Neighborhood and its evolution.

Higher Education Plaza

Marker commemorating Hunton Branch YMCA, founded in 1928.

Hunton Life Saving Crew

Members of the Claytor family had medical offices in this building, constructed in 1947.

Claytor Memorial Clinic

Founded in 1915, the hospital moved to this site in 1921, and this building was constructed in 1955. 

Burrell Memorial Hospital

Approximate former site of Davis Hall and Burell Pharmacy

Burrell Pharmacy

Sweet Union Baptist Church

This church was constructed in 1951 for an African American Catholic parish.

St. Gerard Catholic Church

In 1915 the congregation purchased this church from St. James Methodist Episcopal Church.

Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church

After losing a prior church to urban renewal in 1978, moved to this new church in 1981 and remained in Gainsboro.

Hill Street Baptist Church

Site of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian since 1891, the current church was completed in 1961. Contains significant Stained Glass window.

Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church

Constructed on this site in 1898, the Frist Baptist Church was destroyed by fire in 1995

First Baptist Church

William A. Hunton Branch YMCA

The Gainsboro Branch Library was built in 1942 for Roanoke's then segregated black neighborhoods.

Gainsboro Branch Library

Established in 1923 by two African American businessmen, this building has been a theater for the Black community. 

Strand/Lincoln Theatre

Hotel built in 1917,  to provide lodging for Black travelers.

Dumas Hotel

St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church, located in Gainsboro since the 1880s, is a prominent landmark in the Roanoke skyline

St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church

Hotel founded in 1882, the prominent front entrance dates to 1938.

Hotel Roanoke

A portion of Old Lick Cemetery, some of which was removed for contruction of the I-581 interchange.