{"nrhp_refnum":"00000495","name":"Virginia Home","other_names":["044--5010"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"986 Field Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fieldale","county":"Henry County","state":"VA","lat":36.705508070000064,"lon":-79.93988746099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-05-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, seven-bay frame boarding house at 986 Field Avenue in the company town of Fieldale, Henry County, Virginia, built in 1920 by Marshall Field and Company for textile mill workers, with three secondary frame buildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the property is locally significant under Criterion A for its link to the labor history of a textile mill and company town in the early twentieth century. It housed female mill workers in a town created by Marshall Field and Company. It also served as a community gathering place and keeps its original plan, outbuildings and setting beside the still-operating mill.","narrative":"Built in 1920 at 986 Field Avenue in Fieldale, Virginia, the Virginia Home began as a dormitory for women working at the Fieldcrest towel mill. Marshall Field and Company of Chicago created Fieldale between 1917 and 1919, and as more women entered the mill workforce the company needed housing for young, unmarried workers. John Smith, the company's construction manager, built the two-story, seven-bay frame house with a hip roof and full two-story porch, closely copying the earlier Fieldale Hotel. Inside are a parlor, dining room, kitchen and bedrooms along a central corridor. A cook's house, wash house and staff cottage survive on the 0.7-acre lot. The company ran the boarding house until 1955; afterward the Merriman family operated it until 1996. Its dining room hosted civic club dinners and receptions until 1979, and the cottage lodged visiting baseball teams. Its intact plan, outbuildings and mill-town setting underpin its local significance.","period_of_significance":"1920-1955","architect_builder":"John Smith (Builder)","architectural_style":"Other: Vernacular","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as single dwelling with secondary structures; the adjacent Fieldcrest Mills is described as still operating. The dining room closed to the public in 1979.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.019483-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/93/6812/41681293/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/00000495.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000495/fe97bbf659-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000495/fe97bbf659-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_County,_Virginia_Home.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_County,_Virginia_Home.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"08000072","name":"Fieldale Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/fieldale-historic-district-08000072/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681293","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Home","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14713459"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/henry-county/virginia-home-00000495/"}