{"nrhp_refnum":"82004605","name":"Wharf Area Historic District (Boundary Increase)","other_names":["See Also","Wharf Area Historic District"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Boundary extended on E to Lewis Creek","address_restricted":false,"city":"Staunton (Independent City)","county":"Staunton","state":"VA","lat":38.14745672000004,"lon":-79.07250362999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-07-19","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 at the base of Sears Hill in Staunton, Virginia, centered on Middlebrook Avenue and South Augusta Street. It contains late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century buildings and a railroad complex.","why_significant":"The district is described as an unusually picturesque and well-preserved example of a turn-of-the-century warehouse and commercial district. Its buildings reflect Staunton's growth after the railroad arrived in 1852. The area was important to commerce, trade and rail travel in the city.","narrative":"Located against the base of Sears Hill in Staunton, the Wharf Area is a small district of warehouses and commercial buildings gathered around Middlebrook Avenue and South Augusta Street. Brick warehouses from the late nineteenth century line one side of a trapezoidal open space facing the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad passenger station, built in 1902, and its freight depot. Nearby are the Greek Revival former American Hotel, built around 1854, the Italianate Burns Building of 1874, cast-iron storefronts, a cast-iron footbridge, a railroad water tower and the four-story White Star Mills. The area grew after the Virginia Central Railroad reached Staunton in 1852, serving commission merchants, wholesalers, hotels and rail passengers. During the Civil War it held arsenals and supply warehouses. The district was listed as a well-preserved example of a turn-of-the-century warehouse and commercial area, with a boundary increase adding the mills, grain bins, footbridge and railroad tower.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne and Bungaloid buildings, mostly late-nineteenth century commercial and warehouse architecture","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked good and unaltered; the building at 115-117 South Augusta Street was demolished in 1979 and is now a vacant lot. 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 02:51:57.888614-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/93/6837/41683793/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/82004605.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004605/31bd87bd44-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004605/31bd87bd44-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States","credit_html":"Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Staunton,_Virginia_(6261997861).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"72001533","name":"Wharf Area Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/wharf-area-historic-district-72001533/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683793","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-boundary-increase-82004605/"}