Grandin Road Commercial Historic District

Grandin Road Commercial Historic District occupies roughly eight blocks around the intersection of Grandin Road and Memorial Avenue in southwest Roanoke. It grew out of the Virginia Heights suburb, first developed in 1906, and took shape after streetcar service reached the area by 1915 and the suburb was annexed to the city in 1919. Most surviving buildings date from the years between the world wars. They include a 1922 fire station, a 1922 elementary school by architect John A. Page, a library, a Baptist church, a Masonic lodge, grocery stores, drugstores and the Grandin Theater, designed by Eubank & Caldwell. Later additions include 1940s to 1960s service stations, a supermarket and a dry cleaner, reflecting the growing role of the automobile. The district contains 18 contributing and 5 noncontributing resources. Its buildings show Classical Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Art Deco and Moderne influences, and together they formed the commercial and institutional center of the surrounding residential neighborhood. The Grandin Theater remains Roanoke's only historic movie theater.