Wasena Historic District

Wasena is a residential suburb of Roanoke, Virginia, covering about 174 acres south and west of the Roanoke River. The Wasena Land Company platted it in 1910 and 1917 on farmland, and the Wasena Bridge linked it to the original city. Of 469 primary resources, 454 are dwellings, mostly single-family houses built from the early 1900s through the 1950s. Craftsman bungalows are the dominant type, followed by American Foursquares and, after World War II, Ranch houses. Queen Anne, Dutch Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and Cape Cod examples also appear. Other features include commercial buildings at the north end of Main Street, the 1926 Roanoke Ice and Cold Storage Company building, a 28-acre riverside park, low stone retaining walls and a green space left open because of steep slopes. The 1938-1939 concrete bridge was a Works Progress Administration project. About 94 percent of primary resources contribute to the district, which reflects its planning, architecture, commerce, industry, recreation and transportation.