{"nrhp_refnum":"92000004","name":"Pearisburg Historic District","other_names":["DHR File No. 279-12","See Also:Giles County Courthouse"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly, Wenonah Ave. from Tazewell St. to Main St. and adjacent parts of N. and S. Main","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pearisburg","county":"Giles County","state":"VA","lat":37.32660440600006,"lon":-80.73477149399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-01-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A downtown commercial and governmental historic district in Pearisburg, the Giles County seat in Virginia, with nineteen buildings along Main Street and Wenonah Avenue around the Public Square. The buildings date from 1827 to 1942.","why_significant":"The district is significant for its association with commerce, shown by nearly twenty buildings that housed shops, offices, banks, lodging and restaurants. It is also significant for local government and politics as the county seat, with the courthouse and sheriff's office/jail. It is further significant for architecture, since the buildings show Federal, Romanesque, Craftsman, Colonial Revival and Art Deco styles.","narrative":"Pearisburg's historic downtown clusters nineteen buildings around the Public Square, where Main Street meets Wenonah Avenue in the Giles County seat. The town was platted in 1806 on land donated by George Pearis, and the district's oldest building is the brick Western Hotel, built in 1827 by Guy D. French. The 1836 courthouse, built by Thomas Mercer, also survives. Most other buildings date from 1900 to 1942 and include banks, offices, a hospital conversion, a car dealership, mixed-use blocks with apartments, a stone-faced Episcopal church, a Colonial Revival sheriff's office and jail, and an Art Deco theater with its original marquee. The district was listed for its role in local commerce and county government and for its range of architectural styles. Storefronts have been altered, but the streetscape has no gaps from demolition, and the wrought iron fence around the Public Square remains.","period_of_significance":"1806-1842","architect_builder":"Guy D. French (Western Hotel, 1827); Thomas Mercer (Giles County Courthouse, 1836)","architectural_style":"Federal, Romanesque, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Many buildings are in use for commercial, government, religious and residential purposes; the form also lists vacant/not in use among current functions. Many storefronts have been altered.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.435857-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/6808/41680895/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/92000004.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680895","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearisburg_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14713047"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/giles-county/pearisburg-historic-district-92000004/"}