Virginia Victorian Revival
Danville, Virginia, feels like so many other cities that time and prosperity have left behind as I drive past block after block of empty tobacco warehouses.
But then I round the corner to Main Street.
Suddenly I'm transported to 19th century prosperity as one of the South's finest collections of Victorian and Edwardian mansions begins to reveal itself to me.
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Long before the Civil War, Danville was a tobacco trading center. After the war, cotton mills allowed the city to recover, prosper and grow.
Today the tobacco warehouses are largely empty and the last large cotton mill hovers on the brink of closure. A drug rehabilitation center is housed next to one of the restored mansions along Main Street. But don't count Danville out. This city of 50,000 is doing what it's done throughout history: reinventing itself and emerging stronger.
Nowhere is the resurgence more evident than in the historic mansions built by tobacco and textile barons in the city's West End.
Millionaires Row, as it's been dubbed by the Danville Historical Society, contains the last Confederate Capitol, now home to the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History.
Many of the mansions have been restored to their original glory, including six that the historical society has purchased, renovated and resold since 1980. The society is now working on a seventh house, plus a commercial building.
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The new South
The South is rising again in this small city, mid-point on the Virginia - North Carolina border. Tobacco and textiles gave birth to Danville, but its rebirth is being fueled by another big T -- technology. The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, with Virginia Tech faculty, provides cutting-edge research on everything from polymers to unmanned travel to agriculture and forestry. The institute has been the catalyst for a number of small and mid-sized technology companies relocating to Danville.
The suburbs around Danville are growing rapidly, accommodating employees from large manufacturing plants, including Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Corning and Masonite. But newcomers aren't turning their backs on the old downtown, either.
- One technology company recently decided to locate in one of the historic tobacco warehouses in the downtown area.
- Another example of the partnership between history and technology in Danville is an innovative wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) connection program that makes high speed internet service available for free to anyone who happens into the "hotzone" downtown.
- The city boasts a symphony orchestra, live theater, and a lecture series through historic Averett University, located just off Millionaires Row.
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Owners of the historic mansions open their doors each December for a public tour that raises money for the historical society. If you miss that tour, don't despair -- do what I did, stop at the very accommodating Danville Visitors' Center, just off Route 29, and pick of a copy of the Victorian Walking Tour.
The pamphlet features wonderful descriptions of the mansions, photos, and good street directions. While the tour covers a reasonably compact area, you'll need to plan on spending three or more hours to take in all of the houses listed. And if you're the picture-taking type, you'll also want to bring extra film (or digital memory cards) for your camera.
There's a lot to see.
Below are some stops along the Victorian Walking Tour.
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| Built in 1857-58 for a Major William T. Sutherlin, one of the home's claims to fame is as the last Confederate Capitol. Jefferson Davis, headquartered here from April 3-10, 1865, signed his last official proclamation as president of the Confederacy before the government fell on April 9. In 1912, the house was threatened with redevelopment, but was saved by a citizens group and served as the public library for many years. |
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| Its lavish trim earned it the moniker "The Wedding Cake House," but this Queen Anne style house on Main Street, really was a 1903 wedding gift for Barnes and Mary Penn. |
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These photos represent roughly half of the buildings on the tour. I ran out of daylight - and memory for my camera - by the end of the tour.
But that's okay.
Iit gives me a reason to visit Danville another time.
Visiting Danville
Danville is off Route 29 in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia's Piedmont region. It located between the Raleigh/Durham (NC) Research Triangle area and Greensboro/ Winston-Salem Tri-City area of North Carolina. Lynchburg, Roanoke and Greensboro, NC are about one hour by car. There is ample lodging and dining in the area.
Annual events include:
- Victorian Walking Tour Open House, the second weekend in December
- Festival in the Park, including Pigs in the Park, an annual barbecue competition. Both in May.
- Old 97 Rail Days, in September, marking one of the worst train derailments in American history
More information about the Victorian Walking Tour of Danville is available through the Danville Historical Society, P.O. Box 6, Danville, VA, 24543-0006.
Other information, including history, is available through the Danville Welcome Center, 645 River Park Dr., Danville, VA 24540, Phone: (434) 793-4636
Descriptions of the houses are derived from Victorian Walking Tour, a publication of the Danville Parks, Recreation & Tourism Division, based on the research of Mary Cahill and Gary Grant. Photos in this story are © The Old House Web, 2005.
By Deborah Holmes, The Old House Web
