Cambria Historic District
Also known as: DHR file # 154-48; See Also:Christiansburg Depot
Why it's listed
Cambria is a railroad-oriented neighborhood about a mile from downtown Christiansburg, on the north side of Zion Hill beside the Norfolk-Southern tracks along Crab Creek. Commercial buildings and houses surround a square that was reserved for public use in the 1860s. The earliest landmark is the 1869 Italianate depot, built of board-and-batten with a hip-roofed central tower. Opposite it stands the three-story brick Surface-Lee Block, built in 1908 as a wholesale grocery. The Dew Drop Inn, a pair of joined brick commercial buildings, housed the county's first hospital upstairs. Nearby are concrete-block commercial buildings from the 1920s, a 1928 Gothic-detailed Baptist church, a 1906 brick depot, Queen Anne and vernacular houses, and a small log house likely from the 1850s. The district was listed for architecture and for its role in the area's transportation and commerce between 1854 and 1930, when the railroad shaped the town's growth and its building forms.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district is significant under criteria A and C as a well preserved town built to take advantage of the railroad. It contains one of the region's finest and earliest depots, the Surface-Lee Block and the Dew Drop Inn (site of the county's first hospital), and houses showing change from the 1850s to the 1910s, including mail-order homes and precut lumber.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 90002002, listed January 10, 1991. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 500--600 blocks Depot St., 500--600 block Montgomery St., 900--1000 blocks Cambria St., and railroad depots, Christiansburg |
|---|---|
| County | Montgomery County |
| Listed | January 10, 1991 |
| Reference number | 90002002 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1854-1930 |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Bungalow |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Transportation, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The Dew Drop Inn building is described as vacant on the first floor and owner-occupied on the second, in good repair. Other buildings are described as well preserved and in use, and the 1906 depot serves as railroad offices. |
| Acreage | 34 |
| Coordinates | 37.14179, -80.40573 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 90002002.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14712124
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.