{"nrhp_refnum":"90002174","name":"Blackstone Historic District","other_names":["DHR File No. 142-7","See Also:Schwartz Tavern"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Mann, Dillard, Tavern, S. High, Oak, Eighth and Freeman Sts. and the Norfolk and Western RR tracks","address_restricted":false,"city":"Blackstone","county":"Nottoway County","state":"VA","lat":37.07643278650005,"lon":-78.00540768238793,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-01-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of about 208 acres in the town of Blackstone, Nottoway County, Virginia, covering the commercial core along Main and Broad Streets, nearby residential neighborhoods, churches, and the ca. 1790 Schwartz Tavern. It contains 273 contributing and 91 noncontributing resources.","why_significant":"The district is significant under Criterion A as a transportation and commercial center that grew from an eighteenth-century crossroads settlement and expanded after the Southside Railroad arrived in the 1850s. It is significant under Criterion C for its Victorian commercial blocks, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses, and early-twentieth-century civic, academic and church architecture.","narrative":"Blackstone's historic district preserves the core of a Southside Virginia town that began as an eighteenth-century crossroads known as Black's and White's, after two competing taverns. The ca. 1790 Schwartz Tavern, now restored, is the earliest landmark. Growth accelerated after the Southside Railroad arrived in the 1850s, and the town became a commercial and transportation center. Main and Broad Streets hold late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century storefronts with Romanesque Revival, Italianate, cast-metal and Art Deco details, including the First National Bank designed by Richmond architect D. Wiley Anderson. Fires in 1902, 1928 and 1964 shaped the downtown, and the 1928 losses were quickly rebuilt. South and west of downtown, the Blackstone Land and Improvement Company developed neighborhoods of Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Bungalow houses, many built by local contractors such as R. W. Cobbs and Joseph W. Crowder. Four turn-of-the-century churches and the 1922 former Blackstone College for Girls complete the district, which reflects architectural trends from about 1790 to 1940.","period_of_significance":"1790s to 1940","architect_builder":"Fred A. Bishop (architect); D. Wiley Anderson (architect); R. W. Cobbs (builder); Joseph Wesley Crowder (builder); J. E. McDaniel (architect/builder)","architectural_style":"Queen Anne; Romanesque Revival; Late Gothic Revival; Victorian Italianate; Beaux Arts; Colonial Revival; Bungalow/Craftsman; Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Many commercial buildings have been restored as part of a downtown revitalization, and the Schwartz Tavern has been restored. The Blackstone Public School Complex was lost to arson in the 1970s.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.681794-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/6823/41682331/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/90002174.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90002174/988d09aa81-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90002174/988d09aa81-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"self","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blackstone,_VA_-_commercial_building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">self</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blackstone,_VA_-_commercial_building.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682331","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15199627"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/nottoway-county/blackstone-historic-district-90002174/"}