Wharf Area Historic District

Tucked against the base of Sears Hill in Staunton, the Wharf Area is a small district of warehouses and commercial buildings along Middlebrook Avenue and part of South Augusta Street. Its brick warehouses, some plain and others richly corbeled, face a railroad passenger station built in 1902 and a freight depot. Landmarks include the Greek Revival American Hotel of about 1854, the Italianate Burns Building of 1874, the Erskine Building of 1904, and the four-story White Star Mills. Some Belgian block and brick paving survives. The district grew after the Virginia Central Railroad reached Staunton in 1852, which cut the cost of goods and opened Tidewater markets to Augusta County farmers. During the Civil War, arsenals and supply warehouses stood near the tracks. Commission merchants, wholesalers, saloons and liveries later gave the area its character. It was listed as a well-preserved example of a turn-of-the-century warehouse and commercial district.