Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
March 26, 2025

Contact:
Ivy Tan
Department of Historic Resources
Marketing & Communications Manager
ivy.tan@dhr.virginia.gov
804-482-6445

9 Historic Sites Designated as Virginia Landmarks

—The newly named landmarks are in the counties of Powhatan, Middlesex, and Carroll; in the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, and Roanoke; and in the Pittsylvania County town of Chatham—

RICHMOND – Among the nine places recently listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register are a historic district comprised of the most recognizable form of architecture in Virginia Beach’s resort area in the early 1900s; a collection of Modern-style hospital buildings in a city largely characterized by traditional architecture of the 19th and early 20th centuries; and a family restaurant in Southwest Virginia that served as a haven and harbor for Black patrons during the period of Jim Crow.

The Commonwealth’s Board of Historic Resources approved these properties for placement on the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) during its quarterly public meeting on March 20, 2025, in Richmond. The VLR is the commonwealth’s official list of places of historic, architectural, archaeological, and cultural significance.

At the conclusion of its meeting, the Board approved the following places for listing in the VLR:

In the state’s Eastern Region,

• In Powhatan County, along River Road (now Huguenot Trail), the vernacular-style frame house known as Sublett’s Tavern was established in 1813 as both a home for its owner and founder, William Sublett, and as a commercial enterprise offering food and drink to locals as well as a place to stay for travelers headed to Richmond.

• From the 1930s through the World War II era, the City of Norfolk, home to a major military base, experienced rapid population growth that contributed to a housing shortage affecting both servicemembers and civilians. Between 1942 and 1949, homes in the form of garden apartment complexes were built to alleviate the housing shortage. Unlike the apartment blocks and tenements in Norfolk’s older neighborhoods, garden apartments provided a peaceful suburban living experience with their ample green spaces, landscape design, and layouts that maximized natural light. Several of Norfolk’s garden apartment complexes, including the Talbot Park Apartments, which was commissioned by private developers James Rosati and Fred C. Trump (father of President Donald J. Trump) and designed by Norfolk architect Bernard B. Spigel, were funded with assistance from the Federal Housing Administration, reflecting the federal government’s investment in this type of housing during the 1930s and 1940s.

• Located on the south bank of the Rappahannock River in Middlesex County, the Christchurch School opened in 1921 as one of five schools under the Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, an Episcopalian organization founded to provide a system of reliable, accessible secondary education during a period of rapid population growth and social change in Virginia.

• The 37th Street Cottages Historic District in the City of Virginia Beach is composed of three beach cottages constructed between 1913 and 1928 and their four secondary dwellings and sheds. Representative of the Virginia Beach resort area’s most prominent form of architecture during the early 20th century, the beach cottages were originally built as vacation homes or rentals. During World War II, the cottages were subdivided into apartments and a secondary dwelling or duplex was added to each of the buildings to help address housing shortages created by increased military presence in the city. After the war, the owners rented out the properties to tenants, continuing the tradition of family-owned and operated cottage rentals in Virginia Beach through the late 20th century.

In Virginia’s Northern Region,

• Fall Hill Avenue Historic District represents the City of Fredericksburg’s growth and vitality during the post-World War II era and highlights a unique focal point of Modern architecture in the city. The district centers around the former Mary Washington Hospital—the city’s only hospital starting from its construction in 1949-1951 until 1993—and also encompasses the Medical Arts Building and Dr. Walter H. Johnson’s office, both built circa 1958.

In the state’s Western Region,

• Little Valley School in Carroll County served White students from local farming families in first through six grades during the Great Depression and post-World War II period until it closed in 1953. A two-classroom frame schoolhouse built in 1929 using designs borrowed from Samuel Smith’s Community School Plans, published in 1924 by the Julius Rosenwald Fund, Little Valley possesses the rare—though not unheard-of—distinction as a school built for White children during segregation in Virginia’s public schools. John R. Duncan, a local educator and a renowned figure in the history of early education in Carroll County and the surrounding region, taught at Little Valley and a nearby school for about 40 years.

• The Hunton Branch YMCA in the City of Lynchburg is the only example of a YMCA built specifically for the city’s Black residents and one of the few remaining buildings that provided recreational space for the Black community, in particular men and boys. The building was designed by prominent local architect Pendleton Clark and has remained an active recreational center from its opening in 1956 up to the present.

• Built in the City of Roanoke, the coal-burning Norfolk & Western Class “A” No. 1218 locomotive exemplifies the last great advance of steam locomotive technology in the 20th century. From 1943-1959, the 1218 routinely pulled 150 cars loaded with coal and freight trains at an average speed of 70 miles per hour and was used to transport troops and equipment during World War II. The 1218 is currently displayed at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.

• Gilbert’s Restaurant in the Pittsylvania County town of Chatham was built circa 1945 by the Reverend Robert Gregory Gilbert as a gas station, store, tourist home, and café for Black citizens during Jim Crow segregation in Virginia. In 1971, Gilbert’s son Bob and his wife Sandra bought the business and ran it primarily as a restaurant until 1999. Throughout its years of operation, the building served as a haven for the local Black community and Black travelers, harboring entrepreneurship, women’s economic freedom, civil rights, and racial justice in the face of oppression and discrimination.

DHR will forward the documentation for the newly listed VLR sites to the National Park Service for nomination to the NRHP. Listing a property in the state or national registers is honorary and sets no restrictions on what owners may do with their property. The designation is foremost an invitation to learn about and experience authentic and significant places in Virginia’s history. Designating a property to the state or national registers—either individually or as a contributing building in a historic district—provides an owner the opportunity to pursue historic rehabilitation tax credit improvements to the building. Tax credit projects must comply with the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

###