Editing Roanoke, Virginia (section)

==History==

=== Early history and incorporation ===
The current site of Roanoke lies near the intersection of the [[Great Wagon Road]] and the [[Carolina Road]], two branches of a network of early colonial roads that developed from Native American trails in the [[Appalachia]]n region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rouse, Jr. |first=Parke |title=The Great Wagon Road: From Philadelphia to the South |publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Company |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-07-054101-6}}</ref> While the name ''Roanoke'' is said to have originated from a Native American word for shell beads used as [[shell money|currency]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Otto |first=Paul |date=2017 |title="This is that which...they call Wampum" Europeans Coming to Terms With Native Shell Beads |url=https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=hist_fac |journal=Faculty Publications - Department of History, Politics, and International Studies |issue=77}}</ref> that word was first used {{convert|300|mi|km}} away, where the [[Roanoke River]] empties into the Atlantic Ocean near [[Roanoke Island]].<ref name="Kagey">{{Cite book |last=Kagey |first=Deedie |title=When Past is Prologue: A History of Roanoke County |publisher=Roanoke County Sesquicentennial Committee |year=1988 |page=7}}</ref> The [[Roanoke Valley]] itself was originally home to members of the [[Tutelo]] tribe,<ref name="Kagey" /><ref name="Griffin-1942">{{Cite journal |last=Griffin |first=James B. |date=1942 |title=On the Historic Location of the Tutelo and the Mohetan in the Ohio Valley |journal=American Anthropologist |language=en |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=275–280 |doi=10.1525/aa.1942.44.2.02a00080 |issn=0002-7294 |doi-access=free}}</ref> a [[Siouan languages|Siouan]]-speaking people who were gradually pushed out of the area by advancing European settlers.<ref name="Griffin-1942" />

Many of those settlers were [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch-Irish]] who arrived in the region during the 18th and early 19th centuries following the [[Plantation of Ulster]].<ref name="Barnes-1968">{{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=Raymond P. |title=A History of the City of Roanoke |publisher=Commonwealth Press, Inc. |year=1968 |pages=}}</ref>{{rp|3}} They were followed by significant numbers of Germans from [[Pennsylvania]] via the Great Wagon Road.{{r|Barnes-1968|p=3}}<ref name=Kagey /> By 1838, the area was populated enough that [[Roanoke County, Virginia|Roanoke County]] was created out of parts of [[Botetourt County, Virginia|Botetourt]] and [[Montgomery County, Virginia|Montgomery]] Counties,<ref>{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} Roanoke County, VA - Official Website |url=https://www.roanokecountyva.gov/805/History |access-date=May 24, 2023 |website=www.roanokecountyva.gov |archive-date=May 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524190942/https://www.roanokecountyva.gov/805/History |url-status=live}}</ref> and the area's first railroad, the [[Virginia and Tennessee Railroad|Virginia and Tennessee]], arrived in 1852.<ref name="White-1982">{{Cite book |last=White |first=Clare |title=Roanoke 1740-1982 |publisher=Roanoke Valley Historical Society |year=1982 |pages=}}</ref>{{rp|49}}

The railroad built its new [[Train station|depot]] just south of a small town named Gainesborough, but named the depot after Big Lick, another small community located just to the east, which itself was named after the salt deposits that had drawn game to the area for years.{{r|White-1982|p=49}}{{r|Dotson|p=2}} Gainesborough increasingly became referred to as Big Lick (and later as Old Lick) once development drifted farther south towards the depot.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill Studio |date=February 2004 |title=Historic Architectural Survey of and National Register Nominations for Roanoke Downtown Historic District |url=https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/RN-086_Histoirc_AH_Survey_RoanokeDowntownHD_2004_HILL_report.pdf |access-date=May 24, 2023 |archive-date=May 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531171008/https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/RN-086_Histoirc_AH_Survey_RoanokeDowntownHD_2004_HILL_report.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Growth in the area was stalled by the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]; Roanoke County voted 850–0 in favor of [[secession]] and lost many of its men in the subsequent fighting.{{r|White-1982|p=53}} The burgeoning [[Tobacco industry|tobacco trade]] helped the region's recovery during [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]]. Within a decade of the war's end, there were no fewer than six tobacco factories near the Big Lick Depot.{{r|White-1982|p=58}}

In 1874, the community surrounding the depot applied for and received a town charter, and the Town of Big Lick was formally established.{{r|Barnes-1968|p=71}} Eight years later, efforts by town boosters succeeded in securing Big Lick as the junction of the [[Shenandoah Valley Railroad (1867–1890)|Shenandoah Valley Railroad]] and the [[Norfolk and Western Railway]] (N&W).{{r|White-1982|p=65}} The two companies also relocated their respective headquarters to the town (the two lines would officially merge in 1890).{{r|White-1982|p=70}}{{r|Barnes-1968|p=204}} Big Lick's relatively small size compared to the nearby county seat, [[Salem, Virginia|Salem]], worked in its favor as a draw for the companies. Big Lick's ample farmland and nearby water sources were well suited to the railroads' goal of building much of the town from scratch, including railroad shops, offices, a hotel, and suitable housing for their many employees.{{r|Barnes-1968|p=86}}{{r|Dotson|p=8}}
[[File:Roanoke_Hotel_1910.jpg|left|thumb|251x251px|[[Hotel Roanoke]] as it appeared in 1910. N&W ordered an expansion to the hotel before the original structure was completed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Piedmont |first=Donlan |title=Peanut Soup and Spoonbread: An Informal History of Hotel Roanoke |publisher=Virginia Tech Real Estate Foundation, Inc. |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-9617635-1-0 |page=16}}</ref>]]
In the early 1880s, Big Lick's residents voted to rename the town "Kimball" after [[Frederick J. Kimball]], an executive for the two railroad companies who played a significant role in their new location.{{r|Dotson|p=10}} Kimball turned down the honor, saying, "On the Roanoke River in Roanoke County&nbsp;– name it Roanoke."{{r|Barnes-1968|p=90}} The town obliged, officially becoming the Town of Roanoke on February 3, 1882.{{r|White-1982|p=65}} The new charter also [[Municipal annexation|annexed]] nearly {{convert|2.5|sqmi}} of additional land, including the Town of Gainesborough (later shortened to [[Gainsboro, Roanoke, Virginia|Gainsboro]]), which by that point had already become the center of the area's African American community.<ref>{{Cite web |last=City of Roanoke Planning Building and Development |title=Gainsboro Neighborhood Plan - History |url=https://www.roanokeva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1232/Gainsboro |access-date=May 26, 2023 |website=Roanoke Document Center |archive-date=May 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531171010/https://www.roanokeva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1232/Gainsboro |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shareef |first=Reginald |title=The Roanoke Valley's African American Heritage: A Pictorial History |publisher=The Donning Company |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-89865-962-7}}</ref>{{rp|153}} Kimball chose a wheat field north of the railroad tracks and east of Gainsboro for the N&W's new hotel,{{r|White-1982|p=66}} and the 69-room [[Hotel Roanoke]] – designed originally in the [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne]] style before numerous rebuilds and expansions gave it its current [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor Revival]] appearance – opened its doors in 1882.{{r|Dotson|p=12}}

With the rapid influx of railroad employees and others in associated industries, Roanoke's population soared and, by the end of 1883, had passed 5,000.{{r|White-1982|p=71}} That milestone made the town eligible for a [[Municipal charter|city charter]], and on January 31, 1884, the town became the City of Roanoke.{{r|Barnes-1968|p=135}}

With a population that ballooned from under 700 residents in 1880 to over 16,000 in 1890<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951t00383932e |title=Census of Population:1950 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |hdl=2027/umn.31951t00383932e |access-date=August 2, 2023}}</ref> {{endash}} and earning itself the nickname "The Magic City" in the process{{r|Dotson|p=1}} {{endash}} Roanoke suffered many of the same difficulties that affected other 19th century [[boomtown]]s.<ref name=Dybdahl>{{cite news |last=Dybdahl |first=Pete |date=December 19, 2007 |title=Growing Pains |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1}}</ref> Its infrastructure was essentially nonexistent, and a lack of sewers combined with the area's [[Marsh|marshy terrain]] contributed to regular outbreaks of [[diphtheria]] and [[cholera]].{{r|Dotson|p=37}} [[Municipal bond|Bond initiatives]] designed to alleviate these and other issues highlighted racial tensions in the city, as the African American community – roughly 30 percent of Roanoke's population in 1891{{r|Dotson|p=105}} – opposed the measures because the money would only be used to improve white neighborhoods.{{r|Dotson|p=42}} Black neighborhoods in Roanoke typically received public amenities such as running water and paved roads only after their white counterparts, and Roanoke was among the first to adopt the [[Jim Crow laws]] that were becoming increasingly popular in the South.{{r|Dotson|p=108}} The local press, for its part, stoked the white population's fears and anxiety with near-constant reports of African American "savagery".{{r|Dotson|p=125}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 2, 1901 |title=Crime of the Century |work=The Roanoke Times |page=4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=February 13, 1896 |title=Men Worse Than Apes |work=The Roanoke Times |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 1, 1894 |title=Brutal Work at Staunton |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1}}</ref>

In September 1893, tensions boiled over when a white woman was allegedly robbed and beaten by an African-American man, Thomas Smith, near the city's market.{{r|White-1982|p=78}} Smith was held in the city jail; a mob of hundreds surrounded the building and demanded "[[Lynching|lynch justice]]".{{r|Dotson|p=135}} A shootout between the mob and an undermanned militia ensued, leaving eight dead and thirty-one more injured. Included among the wounded was the city's mayor, the previously widely admired [[Henry S. Trout]],{{r|Dotson|p=134}} who had vowed protection of the prisoner.{{r|White-1982|p=79}} The rioting mob was eventually successful in gaining control of Smith. They proceeded to hang him and mutilate his body, which was eventually burned when the mob was deterred from its initial plan to bury it in Mayor Trout's front yard.{{r|Dotson|p=140}} The mayor himself was forced to flee the city out of fear for his life and only returned a week later after the national press condemned the riot and praised Trout's courage during the event.{{r|Dotson|p=145}}

=== 20th century {{Endash}} present ===
Despite these and other setbacks, the city grew through the early 20th century, both in area and population.{{r|White-1982|p=84}}<ref name="Smith-1985">{{cite thesis |last=Smith |first=Leslie F. |date=August 5, 1985 |title=The Political Geography of Annexation--Roanoke, Virginia |url=https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/45738 |journal=Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertations |access-date=June 7, 2023 |archive-date=July 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722003303/https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/45738 |url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to the land gained in its 1882 town charter, relatively unopposed annexations occurred five more times by 1926, though Roanoke County would become less agreeable to later attempts.{{r|Smith-1985}} Mill Mountain became a popular entertainment locale for early residents; an observation tower and the Rockledge Inn each opened atop the mountain in 1892.{{r|Barnes-1968|p=250}} Mountain Park, an early amusement center complete with a [[casino]] and [[roller coaster]], opened at the foot of the mountain in 1903,{{r|Barnes-1968|p=205}} and beginning in 1910 visitors could pay a quarter to ride an [[Mill Mountain Incline|incline railway]] to the top of Mill Mountain and back.{{r|Barnes-1968|p=473}}

Another mainstay at the base of the mountain was Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Completed in 1900 as Roanoke Hospital,{{r|Barnes-1968|p=341}} the building has undergone many expansions and today is the flagship of the [[Carilion Clinic]] healthcare group.<ref name=Chittum1>{{cite news |last=Chittum |first=Matt |date=December 9, 2018 |title=Research district transforms Roanoke $50 million gift bolsters health campus that was years in the making |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1A}}</ref> The hospital joined some manufacturing operations that were established along the banks of the Roanoke River in the early 20th century, including the [[American Viscose Corporation]].<ref name=Hammack1>{{cite news |last1=Hammack |first1=Laurence |last2=Hunter |first2=Molly |date=March 26, 2023 |title=Past pollution a present concern for Riverdale plans |work=The Roanoke Times |pages=}}</ref> That company built a [[American Viscose Plant Historic District|plant]] in 1917 that by a decade later employed 5,000 and was reportedly the largest [[rayon]] producing mill in the world.{{r|White-1982|p=96}}

The city leased land for an airfield beginning in 1929.{{r|Barnes-1968|p=570}} Still, its development into the [[Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport|region's primary airport]] did not begin until its designation as a defense project provided federal funding in 1940.{{r|White-1982|p=103}} That same year, N&W donated the fairground, Maher Field, to the city to build a stadium and [[Arsenal|armory]].{{r|White-1982|p=103}} [[Victory Stadium]] {{Endash}} optimistically named upon its completion in 1942<ref name=Colorful>{{Cite news |date=November 27, 1942 |title=Colorful Crowd Attends Dedication of Stadium |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1}}</ref> {{Endash}} played host to the annual Thanksgiving Day [[American football|football]] game between [[Virginia Tech]] and [[Virginia Military Institute]] for years afterward.<ref name="Cox1">{{cite news |last=Cox |first=Ray |date=February 9, 2015 |title=Military Classic was Thanksgiving fare |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1B}}</ref>

By the mid-20th century, Roanoke was increasingly losing population and businesses to a Roanoke County that had become less rural and more [[Suburbanization|suburban]] in nature and consequently more resistant to annexation attempts by the city.{{r|White-1982|p=109}}{{r|Smith-1985}} The city was nevertheless successful in annexing additional land in 1943, 1949, three small acquisitions in 1965, 1967, and 1968, and once more in 1976.{{r|Smith-1985}} The county won immunity from further annexations in 1980, but by then, the city had grown from its original size of {{Convert|0.5|sqmi|km2|1}} to {{Convert|42.9|sqmi|km2|1}}.{{r|Smith-1985}}
[[File:Roanoke Star (wide view).jpg|right|thumb|The [[Roanoke Star]] is the origin of the city's nickname ''Star City of the South.''|205x205px]]In 1949, the local merchants association erected an {{Convert|88.5|ft||adj=mid|-tall}} [[Roanoke Star|illuminated star]] at the top of Mill Mountain in celebration of the upcoming Christmas shopping season.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roanoke Star in Virginia's Blue Ridge |url=https://www.visitroanokeva.com/things-to-do/attractions/roanoke-star/ |access-date=June 12, 2023 |website=www.visitroanokeva.com |language=en-us |archive-date=June 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612202756/https://www.visitroanokeva.com/things-to-do/attractions/roanoke-star/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The star was an immediate hit among the city's population, leading to its illumination year-round and earning the city its nickname of "Star City of the South".<ref name=Berrier1>{{cite news |last=Berrier, Jr. |first=Ralph |date=November 23, 2014 |title=Our star turns 65 |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1E}}</ref> Despite the popularity boost for the merchants association, shopping habits in Roanoke were becoming more fractured as suburban [[shopping center]]s drew patrons away from an increasingly vacant downtown.<ref name=Valentine>{{cite news |author=The Roanoke Times Editorial Board |date=February 14, 2017 |title=A valentine for an astronaut |work=The Roanoke Times |page=5B}}</ref> Crossroads Mall, the first enclosed shopping center in Virginia,<ref name=Fabris1>{{cite news |last=Fabris |first=Casey |date=January 2, 2021 |title=Roanoke developer dies at 93 |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1A}}</ref> and Towers Mall, at the time one of the largest shopping centers in the state,<ref name=Firms>{{Cite news |date=October 8, 1961 |title=Two Firms Will Share Managing Duties |work=The Roanoke Times |page=58}}</ref> were each completed in 1961.<ref name=Valentine /> In later years, [[Tanglewood Mall]] (1973)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cockerham |first=Amy |date=April 7, 2023 |title=Roanoke County's Tanglewood Mall under new ownership |url=https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/04/07/roanoke-countys-tanglewood-mall-under-new-ownership/ |access-date=June 14, 2023 |website=WSLS |language=en |archive-date=July 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722003306/https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/04/07/roanoke-countys-tanglewood-mall-under-new-ownership/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Valley View Mall (Roanoke, Virginia)|Valley View Mall]] (1985)<ref name=Codispoti2>{{cite news |last=Codispoti |first=Amanda |date=September 8, 2013 |title=Changes under way at Valley View Mall |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1}}</ref> contributed to Roanoke's status as the region's retail hub.<ref name=Codispoti1>{{cite news |last=Codispoti |first=Amanda |date=June 9, 2013 |title=Making the Star City the right fit |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1}}</ref>

Mid-century change to the city came in the form of a massive "[[urban renewal]]" effort that saw the construction of both the Roanoke Civic Center (now [[Berglund Center]]) as well as an [[Interstate 581|interstate spur]] into [[downtown Roanoke]].<ref name="Bishop" /> Much of the land for these projects was in Northeast Roanoke, a community of primarily African American citizens who had been largely [[Redlining|redlined]] from the rest of the city.<ref name=Chittum2>{{cite news |last=Chittum |first=Matt |date=August 14, 2005 |title=When segregation ruled the streets |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1A}}</ref> City officials gained the land through [[eminent domain]] and proceeded to clear over 1,000 buildings, often through widescale burning.<ref name="Bishop" /> Later projects in the largely black Gainsboro neighborhood removed hundreds of homes and businesses there as well, and late-20th and early-21st century revitalization efforts by the city's government have been met with distrust and varied success.<ref name="Bishop" /><ref name=Adams1>{{cite news |last=Adams |first=Mason |date=August 31, 2008 |title=Troubled legacy |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1B}}</ref><ref name=Campagna>{{cite news |last=Campagna |first=Mary E. |date=July 26, 2017 |title=Sale of Dumas is a stab wound to the heart |work=The Roanoke Times |page=9B}}</ref><ref name=Adams2>{{cite news |last=Adams |first=Mason |date=August 8, 2008 |title=Residents argue for renewal program |work=The Roanoke Times |page=5B}}</ref>

The second half of the 20th century ushered in a change of identity for Roanoke.<ref name="Lowe-1999">{{cite news |last=Lowe |first=Cody |date=November 7, 1999 |title=Our past 100 years |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1}}</ref> In 1982, the N&W completed a merger with the [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]] to form the [[Norfolk Southern Railway]], which then relocated their headquarters from Roanoke to [[Norfolk, Virginia]].<ref name="Lowe-1999" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Railroad company Norfolk Southern is moving its headquarters from Norfolk to Atlanta |url=https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2018/12/12/railroad-company-norfolk-southern-is-moving-its-headquarters-from-norfolk-to-atlanta/6672445007/ |access-date=June 14, 2023 |website=The Florida Times-Union |language=en-US |archive-date=December 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208044037/https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2018/12/12/railroad-company-norfolk-southern-is-moving-its-headquarters-from-norfolk-to-atlanta/6672445007/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The company closed their regional headquarters in Roanoke in 2015, and in 2020 shuttered the locomotive shops.<ref name=Era>{{cite news |date=May 18, 2020 |title=Editorial: End of an era for Roanoke |work=The Roanoke Times |page=5A}}</ref><ref name=Sturgeon1>{{cite news |last=Sturgeon |first=Jeff |date=December 21, 2018 |title=Norfolk Southern to repay grant |work=The Roanoke Times |page=1A}}</ref> The railroad's departure and a string of manufacturing plant closures left a hole in the city's economic base.<ref name="Lowe-1999" />

In 1987, however, the merger of two of the area's largest hospitals created the forerunner of Carilion Clinic, a medical group that is the largest employer in the state west of [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]].<ref name=Rife1 /> The group's partnerships with Virginia Tech and [[Radford University]] have created two colleges and a [[Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute|research facility]] in what was formerly an industrial [[Brownfield land|brownfield]] area, but has since been termed the city's "innovation corridor".<ref name=Rife2 /><ref name=Chittum3 /> These developments, along with the city's decision to improve its parks and recreation amenities and market itself as an outdoor tourism hotspot, have helped reverse its decades-long loss of young adults,<ref name=Success>{{cite news |date=March 28, 2021 |title=Editorial: The valley's success story |work=The Roanoke Times |page=5B}}</ref><ref name=Decade>{{cite news |date=December 30, 2019 |title=A consequential decade |work=The Roanoke Times |page=50B}}</ref> and in 2020 Roanoke's population passed 100,000 for the first time since 1980.<ref name=Lessons>{{cite news |date=August 17, 2021 |title=Five lessons from the census |work=The Roanoke Times |page=7A}}</ref>