St. Paul Historic District

St. Paul's historic district covers the downtown business core of a small railroad town in the southeastern corner of Wise County, Virginia. Set in a cove ringed by steep hills, the district is bounded on the south by the railroad corridor that prompted the town's founding. Visitors enter on Fourth Avenue beneath a concrete railway bridge embossed with the names of earlier railways. Most of the 32 primary resources are two- and three-story commercial buildings from the 1920s to 1950s, set close to the street on narrow lots. Anchors include the former National Bank of St. Paul, with its rusticated stone foundation and elaborate brickwork, and the 1900s Classical Revival hotel, now senior apartments. Two theaters, the Gaiety and the Lyric, recall the town's mid-century liveliness. A few vernacular dwellings from the 1890s survive among the shops. The district is significant for preserving this railroad-era commercial townscape, with a period of significance of 1887 to 1960.