Gainsboro () is a Roanoke,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

located in central Roanoke immediately north of

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

, across the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

right of way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

, between Interstate 581 and Orange Avenue. It borders the neighborhoods of Harrison and Gilmer on the west, Washington Park on the north, Williamson Road on the east and Downtown Roanoke on the south. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Gainsboro has a population of 967 residents.

History

Gainsboro traces its origins to the 1835 establishment of Gainesborough settlement. Developed by William Rowland, Gainesborough was established as the

Roanoke Valley The Roanoke Valley ( ) in southwest Virginia is an area adjacent to and including the Roanoke River between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Appalachian Plateau to the west. The valley includes much of Roanoke County, as well as the ...

's oldest town, and takes its name from Major Kemp Gaines, who both founded and provided the early financing for the village. The location of the settlement would shift slightly to the southwest after 1852 following the arrival of the

Virginia and Tennessee Railroad The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was an historic gauge railroad in the Southern United States, much of which is incorporated into the modern Norfolk Southern Railway. It played a strategic role in supplying the Confederacy during the American ...

and the establishment of Big Lick. Referred to as ''Old Lick'' between the 1850s and 1880s, what would become present-day Gainsboro began to develop as a predominantly

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

community. In 1882, Old Lick and Big Lick would incorporate as Roanoke, and most of its development which still stands today occurred between 1890 and 1940. It was during this time that the area would develop as the center of Roanoke's African American community with Henry Street serving as the cultural and commercial center of the community. The

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

programs of the 1960s and 1970s displaced many families and businesses in the neighborhood and changed the overall urban fabric and character of the area. Today the neighborhood is seeing redevelopment, especially in the areas surrounding the Hotel Roanoke. Established in the 1970s, the Gainsboro Neighborhood Alliance has served as the citizen advocacy group for the community. Located in the neighborhood and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

are the Burrell Memorial Hospital, Gainsboro Historic District, Gainsboro Branch of the Roanoke City Public Library, and Henry Street Historic District. The First Baptist Church was removed after being destroyed by fire in April 1995.

Notable places and persons from Gainsboro

* Hotel Roanoke * Roanoke Catholic School * Edward R. Dudley - the first black United States ambassador * Oliver Hill - civil right lawyer in Brown v. Board of Education * Lucy Addison - educator who successfully petitioned for full accreditation for Roanoke's first African American high school

References

External links

Gainsboro Neighborhood Plan

Gainsboro Neighborhood Alliance
{{Roanoke neighborhoods Neighborhoods in Roanoke, Virginia