The Doctors Building was constructed in a time of drastic architectural, medical, and social change in the mid-20th century. Designed in the International Style, the medical office buildings reflected a progressive, efficient and accessible approach to healthcare in their streamlined and modern aesthetic. Constructed by the well-known local contractor Lanier Anderson, the three-story, brick-veneer building was completed in 1957 and was followed in 1960 by a split-level, brick-veneer annex building. Collectively the buildings are a landmark of the post-World War II changes in medical care and clinic design beginning with the Hill-Burton Hospital Survey and Construction Act of 1946. In its first three years, the main building’s segregated waiting rooms fell in line with the expectations of a system of racial segregation, which was tolerated until 1965 even by health facilities built with federal funds from the Hill-Burton Act. Despite having segregated waiting rooms in its early years, the Doctors Building was one of only a few public buildings on Main Street in Danville that African American residents could freely enter. In addition to providing testimony to the emergence of significant social changes, Doctors Buildings’ residential setting in the Danville Historic District clearly illustrates trends in community planning and development during the 1950s that precipitated the decentralization of downtowns.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia