{"nrhp_refnum":"72001533","name":"Wharf Area Historic District","other_names":["See Also:Wharf Area Historic District Boundary Increase"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Middlebrook Ave. between S. New and S. Lewis Sts., including S. Augusta St. to Johnson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Staunton (Independent City)","county":"Staunton","state":"VA","lat":38.147503616500074,"lon":-79.07264452156176,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-11-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Community Planning and Development","Commerce","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A compact warehouse and commercial district in Staunton, Virginia, at the base of Sears Hill, centered on Middlebrook Avenue and a block of South Augusta Street, with buildings mostly from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.","why_significant":"The nomination calls the Wharf Area an unusually picturesque and well-preserved turn-of-the-century warehouse and commercial district. Its brick warehouses, railroad buildings and storefronts reflect Staunton's growth after the railroad arrived in 1852. The area also served as a supply and military center during the Civil War, and little has altered its character.","narrative":"Tucked against the base of Sears Hill in Staunton, the Wharf Area is a small district of warehouses and commercial buildings along Middlebrook Avenue and part of South Augusta Street. Its brick warehouses, some plain and others richly corbeled, face a railroad passenger station built in 1902 and a freight depot. Landmarks include the Greek Revival American Hotel of about 1854, the Italianate Burns Building of 1874, the Erskine Building of 1904, and the four-story White Star Mills. Some Belgian block and brick paving survives. The district grew after the Virginia Central Railroad reached Staunton in 1852, which cut the cost of goods and opened Tidewater markets to Augusta County farmers. During the Civil War, arsenals and supply warehouses stood near the tracks. Commission merchants, wholesalers, saloons and liveries later gave the area its character. It was listed as a well-preserved example of a turn-of-the-century warehouse and commercial district.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mixed late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century commercial architecture, including Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne and Bungaloid examples","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked good and unaltered at its original site; the form says there has been little alteration, though the area is less active than in former years. The former American Hotel is used as a warehouse.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.596721-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/6837/41683791/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/72001533.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001533/31bd87bd44-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001533/31bd87bd44-1600.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:Staunton,_Virginia_(6261997861).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:Staunton,_Virginia_(6261997861).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683791","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharf_Area_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16903187"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/staunton/wharf-area-historic-district-72001533/"}