Luray Downtown Historic District

Luray's downtown core in Page County, Virginia, is a dense cluster of historic buildings along Main Street, with short extensions up Court and Broad streets. Laid out after the town's founding in 1812, it covers about thirty-five acres on both sides of Hawksbill Creek, from the railroad line on the east to the grounds of the Mimslyn Hotel on the west. Most of the 101 resources were built between the 1830s and 1940s, and 79 of them contribute to its historic character. Early commercial buildings resemble houses, with long sides facing the street, while later ones have narrow brick fronts with large display windows. The district also holds a courthouse, firehouse, post office with a Works Progress Administration mural, a school, churches, hotels, warehouses, a Norfolk & Western passenger station and a 1918 Confederate monument. Together these show how a small Shenandoah Valley county seat grew and changed from the antebellum era to the mid-twentieth century.