{"nrhp_refnum":"69000224","name":"Fincastle Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Carper, Hancock, Catawba, and Back Sts., and Griffin Alley","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fincastle","county":"Botetourt County","state":"VA","lat":37.49879272100006,"lon":-79.8757781643051,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Commerce","Architecture","Exploration/Settlement","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Historic district covering about 85 acres of the town of Fincastle, the Botetourt County seat in Virginia, on Route 220 north of Roanoke. The town was laid out in 1770 and officially founded in 1772, and it contains buildings from the late 18th and 19th centuries.","why_significant":"The district is an excellent example of a small nineteenth-century agricultural town, with its early architecture, skyline and street plan little changed. It began as a colonial frontier village and was one of the last outposts for pioneers moving west. Later documentation adds its role as a supply point and its links to the Lewis and Clark expedition.","narrative":"Fincastle is a small county-seat town in Botetourt County, Virginia, laid out in 1770 by County Surveyor William Preston and established by the Virginia Assembly in 1772. It began as a frontier village and was among the last outposts for pioneers heading west through the Valley of Virginia. The nominated district of about 85 acres keeps the look of a nineteenth-century agricultural community. Its skyline is still marked by three church spires and the court house cupola. The 1845 court house is a Roman Revival building of red brick and whitewashed stucco, and local tradition links it to plans by Jefferson. Greek Revival churches, the 1837 Gothic Revival St. Mark's Episcopal Church, a late Victorian jail, and houses such as the log Peck House, the Federal Ammen House and the Kyle House add variety. Local materials and a consistent scale unify the town. Later documentation adds its role as a supply point for westward settlers and its ties to Lewis and Clark.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Town laid out by County Surveyor William Preston (1770); court house said by local tradition to follow plans submitted by Mr. Jefferson","architectural_style":"Roman Revival, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Federal and late Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition rated good; nearly all early buildings are little altered and well maintained. The district is occupied and includes private residences, commercial uses and a village setting.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.641472-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/6797/41679799/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000224.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000224/eb6aa15bf4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000224/eb6aa15bf4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fincastle,_Virginia_(14197862266)_(2).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fincastle,_Virginia_(14197862266)_(2).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679799","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fincastle_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16836820"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/botetourt-county/fincastle-historic-district-69000224/"}