{"nrhp_refnum":"96001448","name":"Gainsboro Branch of the Roanoke City Public Library","other_names":["Gainsboro Library (DHR File No. 128-256)"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15 Patton Ave., NW","address_restricted":false,"city":"Roanoke (Independent City)","county":"Roanoke (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.277291571000035,"lon":-79.94116954999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-12-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, L-plan Tudor Revival brick branch library at 15 Patton Avenue NW, at the corner of Patton Avenue and Gainsboro Road in Roanoke, Virginia, built 1941-42 for the city's segregated black neighborhoods and designed by Eubank & Caldwell.","why_significant":"The nomination argues significance under Criterion A in Education and Ethnic Heritage: Black. The library is tied to efforts by African American leaders to secure and keep a separate branch library in Gainsboro. It was the neighborhood's second library home, after a 1921 branch in the Odd Fellows Hall, and it continues to serve as a neighborhood library.","narrative":"Built in 1941-42 at the corner of Patton Avenue and Gainsboro Road in Roanoke, Virginia, this one-story brick library was designed for the city's then-segregated black neighborhoods. Roanoke architects Eubank and Caldwell gave it a domestic, Tudor Revival character, with dark red brick walls, a steep slate roof, bow windows and a rusticated limestone doorway with an ogee arch. Inside, a large reading room keeps its beamed cove ceiling and oak Mission-style bookcases. The building replaced an earlier branch that opened in 1921 in rented space in the Odd Fellows Hall, which African American leaders had worked to secure. Funded entirely by local bond money, it avoided the delays that affected federally supported projects. It is the city's only pre-war revivalist branch library still serving its original purpose. It remains a neighborhood library in the historically black Gainsboro area and is valued for its links to education and African American heritage.","period_of_significance":"1941-1946","architect_builder":"Eubank and Caldwell","architectural_style":"Tudor Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still operating as a neighborhood branch library on its original site, with its exterior and interior largely unaltered; a wheelchair-accessible ramp was added in 1994-1995.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.815116-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/6833/41683347/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/96001448.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001448/6e9b35e776-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001448/6e9b35e776-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Farragutful","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gainsboro_Branch_Library_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Farragutful</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gainsboro_Branch_Library_01.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"05001276","name":"Gainsboro Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/gainsboro-historic-district-05001276/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683347","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainsboro_Branch_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16891488"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/roanoke/gainsboro-branch-of-the-roanoke-city-public-library-96001448/"}