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.