Roanoke City Market Historic District
Also known as: City Market District
Why it's listed
Roanoke's City Market district is a six-block downtown area of more than sixty buildings, most of them brick commercial structures of one to three stories. At its center is the 1922 Georgian Revival City Market Building, which replaced Roanoke's first market building of 1886 on the same site. Its ground floor held meat dealers' stalls and its upper floor a meeting hall, while farmers have long sold produce in the surrounding streets. Around the square are buildings in Italianate, Romanesque, Beaux Arts, Georgian Revival and Art Deco styles, including the 1906 Fire Station No. 1, the 1909 Lampros Building, the 1914 McGuire Building and a 1946 Art Deco market with a carrara glass front. The district was listed because it served as the main marketplace for Roanoke and a six-county region for over a century, and because its materials and scale remain cohesive. The city has designated it a local historic district and is pursuing rehabilitation projects there.
Significance in brief: The district served for over a century as the primary marketplace for Roanoke and the surrounding six-county area. It preserves a harmonious, human-scale group of commercial buildings showing the range of late 19th- to early 20th-century styles. It is also the focus of the city's revitalization and local historic district efforts.
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 83003312, listed April 20, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Williamson Rd., Norfolk Ave., S. Jefferson St., and Church Ave., Roanoke (Independent City) |
|---|---|
| County | Roanoke (city and county) |
| Listed | April 20, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83003312 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 and 1900- (specific dates not stated) |
| Architectural style | Mixed commercial styles: Italianate, Romantic Revival, Richardsonian Romanesque, Beaux Arts Classicism, Georgian Revival and Art Deco |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied, in good to fair condition overall; many buildings are in disrepair but the area is undergoing revitalization, with several buildings being rehabilitated and some parking lots on its edges. |
| Acreage | 16 |
| Within district | Roanoke Downtown Historic District (Boundary Increase) |
| Coordinates | 37.27181, -79.93896 (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 83003312.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7339775
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.