The several new towns established in the Shenandoah Valley during the land boom of 1889-91 were considered not only as prime industrial and commercial sites but choice recreational areas. The scenic mountain landscape and pleasant climate, made accessible by the railroad, were the essential ingredients for large summer resorts. Of the Shenandoah Valley’s numerous elaborate hotels built in this period, the rambling Queen Anne-style Buena Vista Hotel in the small city of Buena Vista is one of only two remaining. Designed by S. W. Foulke of New Castle, Pa., and begun in 1890, the hotel operated only briefly, as the Panic of 1893 forced its closing. The building was subsequently acquired by Dr. Edgar H. Rowe, who reopened it as Southern Seminary, a girls’ preparatory school and junior college. The Southern Seminary school closed in 1996, and the Main Building now serves as the centerpiece for the campus of Southern Virginia University.

An updated cover page with a name update for the Southern Seminary Main Building (the old Buena Vista Hotel, and now also known as the Southern Virginia University Main Hall) was approved by the National Register in 2019.
[NRHP Approved: 7/1/2019]