The East Radford Historic District is a historic residential and commercial area exhibiting the 19th- and early-20th-century development of a regional transportation hub and industrial center. Residential, commercial, transportation-related, and institutional buildings primarily date from 1880 to 1930, during which time new, popular building designs gradually replaced traditional forms. This period also reflects the era of Radford’s expansion in the late 19th century, when it was transformed from a depot village to an important regional center along the New River.

The central commercial and residential part of Radford comprises most of the historic boundaries of the town of Central Depot, later known as the east ward of the city of Radford.  This area was listed in the registers in 2000 as the East Radford Historic District. A 2008 amendment was accepted by the National Register changing the status within the district of the former Carson’s Drug Store from a contributing building to a contributing structure, after the building burned, leaving behind only the front façade.
[VLR Accepted: 10/20/2005; NRHP Accepted: 4/23/2008]

The East Radford Historic District was listed in the registers in 2000 with a period of significance spanning from 1880 to 1946.  A 2021 update to the nomination expanded the period of significance to end in 1971, in order to include additional historic trends and architecture dating between 1947 and 1971 that demonstrate the continued development of the city in response to general post-World War II population growth and economic prosperity. The initial nomination noted the significance of these trends in justifying the original period of significance. The historic district boundaries have not been changed as a result of this update.
[NRHP Accepted: 1/6/2022]