This week, the City of Roanoke, VA recognized RVPF Trustee, Alison Blanton, as a Historic Place-Saver.  Alison performs vital work as the Senior Preservation Fellow at Hill Studio. She continues to be active through preservation-focused community groups and is a Trustee of the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation and also serves on the Board of Friends of Mountain View, Inc.

Visit planroanoke.org/historic-preservation to learn more about Alison  and her work. 

Congratulations Alon this well-deserved recognition!!

In early 2020, the Center for Structures of Studying Race (CSSR) began a research project called the Genealogy of Slavery that focuses on the specific history of slavery at Roanoke College and the surrounding region. This research attempts to identify the enslaved people whose labor helped build the College, and were owned by some the College’s founding members. Professor Bucher will discuss how this project supplements larger efforts to think about the epistemic genealogy of Roanoke College, and the role that slavery and institutional racism have played in shaping the college.

Topic:  Genealogy of Slavery Research Project
When:  Tuesday, June 11,2024
Time:  5:30 to 6:30 pm
Where:  Gainsboro Library, 15 Patton Avenue, NW, Roanoke, VA  

This is one interesting discussion you will not want to miss.  So SAVE THE DATE and hope to see you there!

As the month of May is designated as Preservation Month, each year in May, the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation announces our Annual Endangered Sites List to call attention to local history, special places, and the possibility that these significant sites are in danger of being lost forever unless efforts are made to preserve them.

2024 RVPF Endangered sites

The 2024 endangered Sites were announced on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 in conjunction with Preservation Month and Preservation Virginia’s announcement of their 2024 Endangered Historic Sites. 

The Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation’s intent is not to shame or punish the current owners but to bring attention to these sites and encourage their preservation and stewardship. The goal is to work closely with property owners and local governments in exploring options to promote their preservation. 

Only by ongoing public awareness, partnerships and collaborations, innovative technologies, sustainable conservation practices, education and capacity-building programs, and government can we ensure the continued protection and conservation of these valuable cultural assets.  

Previous RVPF Endangered Sites listings

Visit our Endangered Sites page for additional information including lists from previous years. 

2025 RVPF Endangered sites

If you know of a significant historical, natural, and/or cultural sites in the Roanoke Valley that may be in eminent danger of being lost due to deferred maintenance, demolition, or incompatible development, please submit a 2025 Endangered Site Nomination Form by March 17, 2025 for consideration in next year’s Endangered Site listing.

Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation Announces 2024 Endangered Historic Site Nominations Are Currently Being Accepted

If you are aware of a historic site that may be in eminent danger of being lost due to deferred maintenance, demolition, or incompatible development, please let us know by completing, saving and emailing the 2024 RVPF Endangered Historic Sites Nomination Form today!

Remember the intent is not to shame or punish the current owners but to bring attention to these sites and encourage their preservation and stewardship. The goal is to work closely with property owners and local governments in exploring options to promote their preservation. 

SUBMIT your 2024 Endangered Historic Sites nomination TODAY!!

For additional information, email Alison Blanton, Endangered Sites Committee Chair, call 540-765-7154,  or visit our website’s Endangered Sites page.

On Wednesday, November 15, 2023, the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation Annual Meeting & Kegley Preservation Award presentations was held at the historic Gainsboro Library in Roanoke. 

Foundation president Whitney Leeson welcomed guests and provided a ‘Year in Review’ Powerpoint presentation after which 2023 RVPF Awards Committee Whitney Feldman, Judy Harrrison, and Rob Logan presented the 2023 Kegley Preservation Awards.

Refreshments consisting of homemade BBQ sliders, macaroni & cheese bites, cole slaw, pumpkin pie tarts, and apple cider was arranged by Alison Blanton. The meeting concluded with a viewing of the documentary, Hidden in Plain Site,  a documentary project that explores six sites located in Roanoke, Virginia that have historical African-American significance that are currently hiding in plain sight along the streets and highways of the city. The six locations include the Old Lick Cemetery, Historic Gainsboro, Henrietta Lacks Plaza, and others.

The program was awarded the Foundation’s 2023 Annual Kegley Award for Heritage Education and led by Roanoke City Councilwoman Trish White-Boyd who led the Roanoke Hidden Histories Committee in creating the film which was funded by local individuals and businesses under the banner of Roanoke Hidden Histories.  The film has been generously shared with Blue Ridge PBS ECHO and on YouTube in an effort to share it as widely as possible.

You can experience the project more fully by viewing it in Virtual Reality at the Harrison Museum of African American History in downtown Roanoke. For more information on this project, visit https://harrisonmuseum.com/hipsroanoke.

Our new exciting fundraiser event, Wickets & Wine, was held on Saturday, June 3, 2023 at the Historic Fishburn Mansion, Mountain View, located at 714 13th Street SW in Roanoke.  The suggested donation was $30/person with an optional picnic lunch and beverages available for purchase. 

About the Event:
Approximately 110 participants, participated with many playing  lawn croquet on the six (6) courses set up on the mansion’s front lawn. 

Hosted by Friends of Mountain View, Inc. Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, Inc., and Roanoke City Parks & Recreation, this new and exciting fundraising event created an opportunity for you to dress in your croquet white linen shirts, pants, and dresses – with matching hats of course – to sip wine and sparkling while having a “mahvelous” time playing croquet on the lawns of Roanoke’s Historic Mountain View mansion.

As wickets dotted the freshly mowed lawn of this historic estate, on the mansion’s front porch were offered a selection of wines, champagne, sodas, and water as this venue kicked off the long days of summer.  Complementing the event were lawn checkers, corn hole, and several historic automobiles lining the mansion’s circular drive.  

Sponsored by:
* Event Lead Sponsor: Gentry Locke Attorneys
* Croquet Court Sponsors: Hill Studio, Black Dog Salvage, Cary Street Partners, The Grout Doctor, and
* Event Sponsors: Building Specialists, Alleghany Partners, Rob Logan and The Real Estate Group, D. David Parr, Jr. Esq, Whitney Leeson, the Grandin Theatre, Local Roots, and Pop’s Ice Cream and Soda Bar.

Best Dressed Prizes (Male and Female):
* Male (David Hill-winner) – a croquet set, picnic basket and wine will be awarded to the best dressed male contestant.
* Female (-winner) – a croquet set, picnic basket and wine awarded to the best dressed female contestant.

Raffle Ticket Prizes:
* 1st Prize – (Cynthia DeNeal-winner) – a two (2) night stay at The Stone House w/ catered dinner & drinks ,
* 2nd Prize (Jan Moncure-winner) – a $100 DRI Gift Card,
* 3rd Prize – (Angela Stiefbold-winner) – $40 Gift Card for Cabo Fish Taco in downtown Roanoke and $25 gift card for Jersey Lilly’s.

Door Prize:
* “A Night on Grandin” (Patrick Moore-winner) – two (2) movie passes to the Grandin Theatre, Dinner at Local Roots with Dessert at Pop’s Ice Cream and Soda Bar 

Trivia Prize:
* “Fishburn Family and Mansion Trivia Quiz” (winner) received Macado’s Gift card.

House Tours:
Several guided tours of the beautiful Historic Fishburn “Mountain View” Mansion were offered by Fishburn House Historian Judy Harrison

Lawn Games:
* 6 Croquet courses
* Corn Hole

Rules for Croquet:

Lunch:
A boxed lunch was also available for purchase.

Registration:
Registration of $30 per person was easily completed online by opening the QR code on the flyer above or you participants could register onsite on the day of the event.

All funds raised help support the ongoing maintenance of the Historic Mountain View mansion and grounds.

As the month of May is designated as Preservation Month, each year in May, the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation announces our Annual Endangered Sites List to call attention to local history, special places, and the possibility that these significant sites are in danger of being lost unless efforts are made to preserve them.

Only people working together can historic places be saved for the benefit of current and future generations. 

Volunteers helping to restore the Big Lick Cemetery at the intersection of Orange Ave and I-581.

Additional information on Preservation Month activites taking place across the US 

On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in recognition of National Preservation Month, the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation (RVPF) unveiled the Persinger Cemetery Interpretive sign and announced the Foundation’s Endangered Sites for 2023. 

Persinger Cemetery Historic Interpretive Sign Unveiling

The Persinger Cemetery is located on a grassy plot of land at the intersection of Memorial Avenue SW and Edgewood Street SW in Roanoke. The cemetery is surrounded by a decorative iron fence and is the final resting place of the Persinger family members including two sons who fought as confederate soldiers in the Civil War.  The Persinger Cemetery interpretive sign was made possible through a matching grant from the Roanoke Committee of the National Society of Colonial Dames.

The sign tells the story of the Persinger family and their contributions to the early settlement of the area.  

  RVPF Alison Blanton welcoming attendees to the Persinger Cemetery Interpretative Sign unveiling

2023 Endangered Sites Announced

Immediately following the unveiling of the sign, Rob Logan announced the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation’s 2023 Endangered Sites. Since 1996, the RVPF has announced a list each year of significant historic, natural, and cultural sites in the Roanoke Valley that are in eminent danger of being lost due to deferred maintenance, demolition, or incompatible development. The Foundation’s goal is to raise awareness of the significance of these sites and to help identify options to promote their stewardship. The RVPF hopes to serve as a resource to property owners by making them aware of tools available to support the preservation of these sites.

This year, five (5) endangered sites were recognized, including:

• * two historic churches that represent the challenges all ‘Houses of Worship’ nationwide are facing today as congregations dwindle and maintenance costs soar,
• * the circa 1900 Rader-Muse Barn, a rare surviving example of the German-style bank barn once found throughout the Shenandoah Valley and currently near Troutville (A bank barn is a style of barn noted for its ease of accessibility at ground level on two separate levels as it is built into the side of a hill, or bank, allowing both the upper and the lower floors to be accessed from ground level, the upper level from the top of the hill and the lower level from the bottom of the hill),
• * the Darby-Rader House on Darby Road in Troutville, also known as Maple Grove, constructed circa 1830 by the Rader family, well-known brick masons and builders in Botetourt County,
• * the Peck-Figgatt House (also known as Aspen Hill) that stands at a prominent corner in the Fincastle Historic District, originally built circa 1822, and
• * Huntington, a Federal-style brick house located on  Huntingdon Boulevard in Northwest Roanoke.

Visit the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation’s Interpretive Sign webpage and Endangered Sites webpage for additional information and photos.  You can also view an article as it appeared in the Roanoke Times.