Nomination Form
Manufactured in 1905 by the Snow Steam Pump Company of Buffalo, N. Y., the water pump at the Crystal Spring Steam Pumping Station in the city of Roanoke is believed to be the only one of its type to survive. A kinetic wonder for its time, the pump employs the Corliss method of valve control, a technical breakthrough for the period. It drew water from Roanoke’s Crystal Spring until 1957, supplying the city with a reliable water source during its years of rapid growth. Restored in the 1990s, the pump, with its elaborate flywheel, pistons, and gears, was then exhibited by the city as an artifact of industrial technology. This remarkable relic of the machine age is housed in a plain industrial structure on the edge of Crystal Spring Park.
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
Nomination Form
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
