This view of Roanoke’s predominantly Black Gainsboro neighborhood circa 1924 looks north along Jefferson Street, the dividing boundary of northwest and northeast Roanoke. At center is the Norfolk and Western Railway General Offices, now the Roanoke Higher Education Center. At right is the Hotel Roanoke. One of the buildings at left would become the Dumas Hotel, which counted among its guests legends like jazz composer Duke Ellington and film director Oscar Micheaux. It’s now the Dumas Center for Artistic Development. Most of the houses and buildings shown were leveled by Roanoke’s urban renewal projects, which started in the 1950s. The photo, from the Virginia Room archives, is displayed in the Gainsboro History Walk on Wells Avenue.
This view of Roanoke’s predominantly Black Gainsboro neighborhood circa 1924 looks north along Jefferson Street, the dividing boundary of northwest and northeast Roanoke. At center is the Norfolk and Western Railway General Offices, now the Roanoke Higher Education Center. At right is the Hotel Roanoke. One of the buildings at left would become the Dumas Hotel, which counted among its guests legends like jazz composer Duke Ellington and film director Oscar Micheaux. It’s now the Dumas Center for Artistic Development. Most of the houses and buildings shown were leveled by Roanoke’s urban renewal projects, which started in the 1950s. The photo, from the Virginia Room archives, is displayed in the Gainsboro History Walk on Wells Avenue.
