Blackstone Historic District

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.