Roanoke, Virginia

First called Big Lick, after a large outcropping of salt that drew the wildlife to the site near the Roanoke River,[33] the town was established in 1852 and chartered in 1874. In 1882, Big Lick became the town of Roanoke, and in 1884, it was chartered as the independent city of Roanoke. The name Roanoke is said to have originated from an Algonquian word for "shell money",[34] which was the name used for the river by the Algonquian speakers who lived 300 miles (480 km) away, where the river emptied into the sea near Roanoke Island. The native people who lived near where the city was founded did not speak Algonquian. They spoke Siouan languages, Tutelo, and Catawban. There were also Cherokee speakers in the general area who fought with the Catawba people. The city grew frequently via annexation through the middle of the 20th century.[35] The last annexation was in 1976. The state legislature has since prohibited cities from annexing land from adjacent counties. Roanoke's location in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the middle of the Roanoke Valley between Maryland and Tennessee, made it the transportation hub of western Virginia and contributed to its rapid growth.

During colonial times, the site of Roanoke was an important hub of trails and roads. The Great Indian Warpath, which later merged into the colonial Great Wagon Road, was one of the most heavily traveled roads of 18th-century America. It ran from Philadelphia through the Shenandoah Valley to the future site of Roanoke, where the Roanoke River passed through the Blue Ridge. The Carolina Road branched off in Cloverdale, Virginia, to Boones Mill, Virginia, and on to the Yadkin River Valley. The Roanoke Gap proved a useful route for immigrants to settle the Carolina Piedmont region. At Roanoke Gap, another branch of the Great Wagon Road, the Wilderness Road, continued southwest to Tennessee.

In the 1850s, Big Lick became a stop on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad (V&T) which linked Lynchburg with Bristol on the Virginia-Tennessee border.

After the American Civil War (1861–1865), William Mahone, a civil engineer and hero of the Battle of the Crater, was the driving force in the linkage of three railroads, including the V&T, across the southern tier of Virginia to form the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a new line extending from Norfolk to Bristol, Virginia in 1870. However, the Financial Panic of 1873 wrecked the AM&O's finances. After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's role as a railroad builder ended in 1881 when northern financial interests took control. At the foreclosure auction, the AM&O was purchased by E.W. Clark & Co., a private banking firm in Philadelphia which controlled the Shenandoah Valley Railroad then under construction up the valley from Hagerstown, Maryland. The AM&O was renamed Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W).

Child laborer at Roanoke Cotton Mills, 1911. Photo by Lewis Hine.

Frederick J. Kimball, a civil engineer and partner in the Clark firm, headed the new line and the new Shenandoah Valley Railroad. For the junction for the Shenandoah Valley and the Norfolk and Western roads, Kimball and his board of directors selected the small Virginia village called Big Lick, on the Roanoke River. Although the grateful citizens offered to rename their town "Kimball", at his suggestion, they agreed to name it Roanoke after the river. As the N&W brought people and jobs, the Town of Roanoke quickly became an independent city in 1884. In fact, Roanoke became a city so quickly that it earned the nickname "Magic City".

Kimball's interest in geology was instrumental in the development of the Pocahontas coalfields in western Virginia and West Virginia. He pushed N&W lines through the wilds of West Virginia, north to Columbus, Ohio and Cincinnati, Ohio, and south to Durham, North Carolina, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This gave the railroad the route structure it was to use for more than 60 years.

The Virginian Railway (VGN), an engineering marvel of its day, was conceived and built by William Nelson Page and Henry Huttleston Rogers. Following the Roanoke River, the VGN was built through the City of Roanoke early in the 20th century. It merged with the N&W in 1959.

The opening of the coalfields made N&W prosperous and Pocahontas bituminous coal world-famous. Transported by the N&W and neighboring Virginian Railway (VGN), local coal fueled half the world's navies. Today it stokes steel mills and power plants all over the globe.

The Norfolk & Western was famous for manufacturing steam locomotives in-house. It was N&W's Roanoke Shops that made the company known industry-wide for its excellence in steam power. The Roanoke Shops, with its workforce of thousands, is where the famed classes A, J, and Y6 locomotives were designed, built, and maintained. New steam locomotives were built there until 1953, long after diesel-electric had emerged as the motive power of choice for most North American railroads. About 1960, N&W was the last major railroad in the United States to convert from steam to diesel power. When N&W converted to diesel power, 2,000 railroad workers were laid off.[36]

The presence of the railroad also made Roanoke attractive to manufacturers. American Viscose opened a large rayon plant in Southeast Roanoke in October 1917.[37] This plant closed in 1958, leaving 5,000 workers unemployed.

Within its boundaries, Roanoke is divided into 49 individually defined neighborhoods.

Though located along the Blue Ridge Mountains at elevations exceeding 900 ft (270 m), Roanoke lies in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen Cfa), with four distinct, but generally mild, seasons; it is located in USDA hardiness zone 7b, with the suburbs falling in zone 7a.[40] Extremes in temperature have ranged from 105 °F (41 °C) as recently as August 21, 1983, down to −12 °F (−24 °C) on December 30, 1917, though neither 100 °F (38 °C) nor 0 °F (−18 °C) is reached in most years; the most recent occurrence of each is July 8, 2012 and February 20, 2015.[41] More typically, the area records an average of 6.1 days where the temperature stays at or below freezing and 30.5 days with 90 °F (32 °C)+ highs annually.[41][42] The normal monthly mean temperature ranges from 37.9 °F (3.3 °C) in January to 77.8 °F (25.4 °C) in July.[41][42]

Based on the 1991−2020 period, the city averages 14.8 inches (38 cm) of snow per winter.[42] Roanoke experienced something of a snow drought in the 2000s until December 2009 when 17 inches (43 cm) of snow fell on Roanoke in a single storm.[43] Winter snowfall has ranged from trace amounts in 1918–19 and 1919–20 to 62.7 inches (159 cm) in 1959–60;[41] unofficially, the largest single storm dumped approximately three feet (0.9 m) from December 16−18, 1890.[44]

Flooding is the primary weather-related hazard faced by Roanoke. Heavy rains, most frequently from remnants of a hurricane, drain from surrounding areas to the narrow Roanoke Valley. The most recent significant flood was in the fall of 2004, caused by the remains of Hurricane Ivan. The most severe[45] flooding in the city's history occurred on November 4, 1985, when heavy storms from the remnants of Hurricane Juan stalled over the area. Ten people drowned in the Roanoke Valley and others were saved by rescue personnel.

Many residents complain that they are prone to allergies because of pollen from trees in the surrounding mountains. Most famously, the family of Wayne Newton moved from Roanoke to the dry climate of Phoenix, Arizona, because of his childhood asthma and allergies.[46] However, there have not been clinical studies to establish that these conditions are more prevalent in Roanoke than in other cities with similar vegetation and climate.

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

At the 2000 census,[53] there were 94,911 people, 42,003 households and 24,235 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,213.2 per square mile (854.6/km²). There were 45,257 housing units at an average density of 1,055.3 per square mile (407.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 69.38% White, 26.74% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.72% from other races, and 1.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.48% of the population.

There were 42,003 households, of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.1% were married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.3% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.86.

22.6% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.

The median household income was $30,719 and the median family income was $37,826. Males had a median income of $28,465 and females $21,591. The per capita income was $18,468. About 12.9% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.4% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over.

According to Roanoke's 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[75] the top employers in the city are:

Center in the Square, an arts and culture organization located near downtown's historic market building and farmers' market, was developed alongside the city's "Design '79" downtown revitalization effort and opened in 1983.[79] The Center, located in a converted warehouse, originally housed the city's arts council and museum, history and science museums, and the Mill Mountain Theatre.[80] It has since expanded to five buildings providing rent-free space to twelve institutions, including the Science Museum of Western Virginia and Hopkins Planetarium, the Harrison Museum of African American Culture, and the Roanoke Pinball Museum.[80]

The Taubman Museum of Art

One of the original tenants of Center in the Square, the Art Museum of Western Virginia, moved to its own facility on Salem Avenue in downtown in 2008.[81] The move was made with the help of a $15.2 million donation from Nicholas and Jenny Taubman, whose family had established Advance Auto Parts in Roanoke in the 1930s,[82] and as a result the museum was renamed the Taubman Museum of Art.[83] The art museum features 19th and 20th century American art, contemporary and modern art, decorative arts, and works on paper, and presents exhibitions of both regional and national significance.[84] The new 75,000-square-foot (7,000 m²) facility was designed by Los Angeles-based architect Randall Stout, who earlier in his career worked under Frank Gehry.[81] The facility's design sparked debate in the community between those who feel it is a bold, refreshing addition to Roanoke and those who feel its unusual, irregular design featuring sharp angles contrasts too strongly with the existing buildings.[85]

Also located downtown is the Virginia Museum of Transportation, which houses many locomotives that were built in Roanoke, including the Norfolk & Western 1218 steam engine. The museum is also the owner of the Norfolk and Western 611, a J-class steam engine built in Roanoke and considered the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology.[86][87] A 2013 fundraising campaign led to the engine's refurbishment,[88] and it now does tourist excursion runs when not at home at the museum.[89] In addition to its rail exhibits, the museum also displays a US Army Jupiter rocket[90] and houses exhibits covering aviation as well as automobiles.[91] The museum itself is located in the former Norfolk and Western freight depot, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[92]

The former Norfolk and Western passenger station hosts two museums: the O. Winston Link Museum, dedicated to the late steam-era railroad photography of O. Winston Link, and the History Museum of Western Virginia.[93] The building is one of four contributing structures to the Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[94]

Hotel Roanoke, located in the Gainsboro neighborhood, was built in 1882 and has been expanded multiple times.

The Berglund Performing Arts Theatre is a 2,150 seat venue located within the larger Berglund Center complex.[95] It regularly hosts concerts,[96][97] touring Broadway theatre performances,[98][99] stand-up comedy shows,[100][101] and the Miss Virginia pageant.[102][103] The city's first permanent artwork funded by the Percent for Art ordinance - a law stating that the city must set aside 1% of its capital improvements budget for the purchasing of public art[104] - stands before the theater. Dedicated in 2008 to celebrate the city's 150th anniversary,[105] the 30-foot (9.1 m) stainless steel sculpture, "In My Hands", is one of nearly 100 works in the city's public art catalogue.[106]

The Jefferson Center is a former city high school that saw extensive renovation during the 1990s, turning it into a mixed-use building including office space for non-profits and city departments, event space for meetings and receptions, and the Shaftman Performance Hall, a 925-seat theatre born out of the original high school's auditorium.[107][108]

In 2006, the former Dumas Hotel was reopened as the Dumas Center for Artistic and Cultural Development.[109] The center is located on Henry Street, which served as the commercial and cultural center of Roanoke's African American community prior to a mid-20th century urban renewal project that saw much of the historic Gainsboro neighborhood razed or relocated.[110][111] The Dumas Hotel hosted such guests as Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole when they performed in Roanoke.[112] The renovated Dumas Center features an auditorium with more than 200 seats,[109] and the building is a contributing structure to the Henry Street Historic District, listed in 2004 to the National Register of Historic Places.[113]

Since 1964 the Roanoke Valley has been served by the regional theatre Mill Mountain Theatre, which has been located in Center in the Square since its original home atop Mill Mountain burned down in 1976.[114] The theatre has both a main stage for mainstream performances and a smaller black box theatre called Waldron Stage which hosts both newer and more experimental plays along with other live events.[115]

Roanoke has also been home to the Showtimers Community Theatre since 1951,[116] and since 2008 the Virginia Children's Theatre has presented shows aimed at a younger audience, often based on children's literature.[117] Originally formed as Roanoke Children's Theatre and housed in the Taubman Museum at its opening, the theatre expanded into the Dumas Center in 2013, and in 2016 moved to its current home in the Jefferson Center.[117]

Opera Roanoke is Southwest Virginia's only professional opera company, and was established in 1976 as the Southwest Virginia Opera Society.[118] Performing under its current name since 1991, its official orchestra since 2004 has been the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra (RSO).[119] That group was established in 1953, and has been led since 1996 by Music Director and Conductor David Wiley,[120] under whose leadership the orchestra has grown to the largest in Virginia west of Richmond.[120] The orchestra performs out of the Berglund Performing Arts Theatre, Salem Civic Center, and Shaftman Performance Hall at Jefferson Center.[121]

Fire Station No. 1 opened in 1907

Roanoke is the largest metropolitan area on the Blue Ridge Parkway,[122] a 469-mile long scenic road that is the most-visited element of the National Park System.[123] The Mill Mountain Parkway exit off of the Blue Ridge Parkway leads to the Roanoke Star, a 88.5 feet (27.0 m) tall illuminated star sitting atop a mountain inside the city's limits and affording panoramic views of the valley.[124] Also on the mountain's summit is Mill Mountain Zoo, a Zoological Association of America-accredited facility housing over 170 animals.[125][126]

St. Andrew's Catholic Church rests on a hill overlooking downtown and has been called "one of Virginia’s foremost examples of the High Victorian Gothic."[127] The church dates to 1900, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[128] Just below the church lies the Hotel Roanoke, an historic 330 room Tudor Revival hotel originally built by the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1882 and rebuilt and expanded many times since.[129] Nicknamed the "Grand Old Lady,"[130] the hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.[131]

A pedestrian bridge leads from the Hotel Roanoke to the city's historic market building and farmers' market, the latter of which dates to 1882 and is the oldest continuously-operating open-air market in Virginia.[132] Near the terminus of the market is Fire Station No. 1, which for a time was the oldest continuously-operating station in the state.[133] The Georgian Revival structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973,[134] and currently houses a local furniture showroom, restaurant, and boutique hotel.[135] Two blocks west on the same street is Texas Tavern, an iconic[136][137] ten-seat "greasy spoon" restaurant that has been operated by the same family since its establishment in 1930.[138]

Parade of Nations at the Local Colors Festival

Roanoke features a number of annual festivals and events of various types. A parade for St. Patrick's Day occurs every March,[139] and Pride in the Park is an LGBTQ+ community celebration that draws thousands of visitors every April.[140] May sees the Local Colors festival celebrating the cultures of the area's diverse ethnicities,[141] as well as the city's Strawberry Festival,[142] the Down by Downtown music festival which coincides with the Blue Ridge Marathon,[143] and Memorial Day weekend's Festival in the Park, which brings music and vendors to downtown's Elmwood Park.[144]

Later in the year Elmwood Park hosts the Henry Street Heritage Festival, which is the primary fundraiser for the Harrison Museum of African American Culture.[145] The event's popularity necessitated the move from its eponymous location.[145] The Go Outside Festival, also known as GO Fest, is a free three-day event every October that celebrates the region's outdoor recreation opportunities,[146] and each December the city holds the multi-week Dickens of a Christmas. This Victorian Era-themed event includes a Christmas tree lighting, a parade, and horse-drawn carriage rides through downtown.[147]

The 1971–1972 Virginia Squires of the ABA were the only major league sports team to regularly play home games in Roanoke. During the 1971–1972 season, the Squires split home games between Richmond, Norfolk, Hampton Roads and Roanoke.[148] Julius Erving played his professional rookie season with the Squires in 1971–1972.[149]

Minor league baseball has been more successful in building and maintaining a fan base than have the Roanoke Valley's other minor league sports teams. In the 1940s and early 1950s, Roanoke was home to a class B farm team of the Boston Red Sox. Since 1955, neighboring Salem has hosted the local minor league baseball team, currently the Salem Red Sox of the Low-A Carolina League. The team had previously been affiliated with the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies and known as the Avalanche until becoming an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, whose ownership group purchased the Avalanche in 2007, for the 2009 season.

Minor league hockey has a history in the Roanoke Valley dating to the 1960s. It reached a zenith of popularity in the mid- to late-1990s with the Roanoke Express of the ECHL. The team's attendance declined due to a lack of post-season success and management turmoil. The Express folded after the 2003–04 season.

The 2005–06 revival by the UHL's Roanoke Valley Vipers failed after one season. The team had a losing record and the midwestern-based league was unable to rekindle the interest of the local fanbase. The team was formed to provide a travel partner for a UHL franchise in Richmond which also folded after the 2005–06 season.

In 2016, professional ice hockey returned to Roanoke after ten years when the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs of the Southern Professional Hockey League began play. The team won its first ever President's Cup title in 2023.[150]

The Roanoke Dazzle of the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) and the Roanoke Steam of the af2 (arena football) folded after never developing consistent followings. The Dazzle's attendance was similar to other inaugural franchises in the league. It was one of the last two teams to remain in its original city. Over the years, Roanoke has also had teams in soccer and men's and women's semi-professional football.

For a number of years, Roanoke, with Richmond and Norfolk, was one of the nominally neutral sites for the annual basketball game between the Virginia Cavaliers and Virginia Tech Hokies. During most of the 1970s and 1990s, the University of Virginia dominated the rivalry and as such tended to have significantly greater fan representation, despite Roanoke's closer proximity to Virginia Tech's home in Blacksburg.[151][152] In the late 1990s, the schools started holding these games in their own campus facilities.

Roanoke served as the home for the Big South Conference men's basketball tournament and women's basketball tournament in 2001 and 2002.

The Virginia Tech Hokies ice hockey team has used the Roanoke Civic Center as its regular season home venue, from 2006 to the present season.[153] In 2010, the Roanoke College ice hockey team began using the Roanoke Civic Center as its home venue as well.[154]

From the 1940s to the late 1960s, Roanoke's Victory Stadium hosted an annual Thanksgiving Day game between Virginia Tech and the Virginia Military Institute and other high-profile college football games. From 1946 to 1950, Victory Stadium also hosted the South's Oldest Rivalry between the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina.

The city's daily newspaper, The Roanoke Times, has been published since 1886. Weekday circulation averages a little over 90,000 with Sunday circulation around 103,000. In 2002, it was designated the best-read daily newspaper in the country by the 2002 Scarborough Report. Of 162 newspapers in top US metropolitan areas, The Roanoke Times ranked first in the percentage of adults who read their daily newspaper. It ranked first again in 2006.[174] The Roanoke Times established a web site in 1995 and has developed a web portal at Roanoke.com.

The Roanoke Times formerly published Blue Ridge Business Journal which served the business community in Roanoke and the surrounding region. However, it ceased freestanding publication in 2010[175] and was folded into the newspaper's Sunday Business Publication as The Ticker. Valley Business Front is a monthly publication that targets the business community in the region. The weekly Roanoke Tribune was founded in 1939 by Fleming Alexander and covers the city's African-American community. Main Street Newspapers publishes weekly newspapers for surrounding communities such as Salem, Vinton, southwest Roanoke County and Botetourt County. Play by Play is a monthly publication dedicated to local and regional sports.

The Roanoke Star-Sentinel is a weekly newspaper which covers the city of Roanoke. The South Roanoke Circle is an independent monthly newspaper for the neighborhood of South Roanoke.

The Roanoker is the area's bi-monthly lifestyle magazine and is published by Leisure Publishing, which also publishes the bi-monthly Blue Ridge Country magazine.

Roanoke and Lynchburg are grouped in the same television market, which currently ranks #67 in the United States with 440,398 households. There are affiliates for all networks as well as independent stations. Stations in this market that are located in Roanoke include NBC affiliate WSLS 10,[176] CBS affiliate WDBJ 7,[177] Fox affiliate WFXR Fox 21/27,[178] PBS affiliate WBRA-15, and ION Television affiliate WPXR-38.

The Roanoke-Lynchburg radio market has a population of 449,800 and is ranked #115 in the United States as of 2020.[179]

Interstate 581 is the primary north-south roadway through the city. It is also the only interstate highway as Interstate 81 passes north of the city limits. Interstate 581 is a concurrency with U.S. Route 220, which continues as the Roy L. Webber Expressway from downtown Roanoke, where the I-581 designation ends, south to State Route 419. Route 220 connects Roanoke to Martinsville, Virginia and Greensboro, North Carolina. The proposed Interstate 73 would generally parallel Route 220 between Roanoke and Greensboro and would likely be a concurrency with I-581 through the city. The primary east-west roadway is U.S. Route 460, named Melrose Avenue and Orange Avenue. Route 460 connects Roanoke to Lynchburg. U.S. Route 11 passes through the city, primarily as Brandon Avenue and Williamson Road, which was a center of automotive-based commercial development after World War II. Other major roads include U.S. Route 221, State Route 117 (known as Peters Creek Road) and State Route 101 (known as Hershberger Road). The Blue Ridge Parkway also briefly runs adjacent to the city border.[180]

Roanoke is divided into four quadrants: Northwest (NW), Northeast (NE), Southwest (SW) and Southeast (SE). The mailing address for locations in Roanoke includes the two letter quadrant abbreviation after the street name. For example, the Center in the Square[181] complex in downtown Roanoke has the address "1 Market Square SE".

Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport terminal building

The Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport is located in the northern part of the city and is the primary passenger and cargo airport for Southwest Virginia.[182]

Roanoke station platform

The city is known for its rail history. Into the 1960s the Norfolk and Western and Southern Railway ran three trains a day toward New York City; the trains went to different destinations to the west and south: Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans. From October 1, 1979, to October 31, 2017, Roanoke did not have passenger rail service.[183] In August 2013, it was announced that Amtrak service as part of their Northeast Regional would be extended from Lynchburg to Roanoke by 2017. Construction of a platform for this new service began in fall 2016.[184] On October 31, 2017, after 38 years without passenger rail service, Amtrak resumed service to Roanoke.[185] Before passenger rail service resumed, a bus service, the Smart Way Connector, aligned with the Amtrak schedule to connect riders to the Kemper Street Station in Lynchburg.

Roanoke is a major hub in Norfolk Southern's freight rail system. In 2006, the railroad announced plans to construct an intermodal rail yard in the community of Lafayette, Virginia of neighboring Montgomery County; however, opposition by local residents prompted Norfolk Southern to consider other potential sites. In 2007, the former Roanoke mayor David A. Bowers urged Roanoke to offer a site for the yard. Shortly thereafter, neighboring Salem proposed a site in an industrial area of the city. In 2008, Norfolk Southern determined that the Lafayette location was the only practical site. The Commonwealth of Virginia may also upgrade Norfolk Southern's rail line parallel to Interstate 81 from Roanoke through the Shenandoah Valley to encourage more freight to be shipped by rail.

The Valley Metro bus system serves the city of Roanoke and surrounding areas. Nearly all routes originate or terminate at the Campbell Court bus station in downtown Roanoke, which is also served by Greyhound. Valley Metro also offers bus service to Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Lynchburg and Virginia Tech via the Smart Way and Smart Way Connector services. In addition, several free shuttles connect local colleges to downtown Roanoke. The Ferrum Express runs between Ferrum College in nearby Rocky Mount and downtown Roanoke, while the Hollins Express connects to Hollins University in Roanoke County.

Roanoke City is served by RIDE Solutions, a regional transportation demand management agency that provides carpool matching, cycling advocacy, transit assistance and remote work assistance to businesses and citizens in the region.