Archives Digital Exhibits

Location of Roanoke Female College on 1886 Sanborn Map

Sanborn fire insurance maps are a gold mine for local historians, providing detailed scale layouts of buildings at particular times in history, typically naming (or at least describing) the occupant if the building was used for commercial purposes.  In this image from the 1886 Danville map, we see the basic layout of the building and grounds of the Patton Street campus of Roanoke Female College.  At this point, this stretch of Ridge Street was still known as Tazewell Alley.

Street View Circa 1888, Before Renovation

In this image from the 1888 college catalog, a street view reveals the layout of the building prior to President C.F. James' renovations in the 1890s.  Note the breezeway connecting the two story house on the left (presumably housing the President's family, among other things) and the main building on the right.  The original twin staircases descend from the main building directly to the street

Street View Circa 1903, After Renovation

In this image from a 1903 illustrated history of Danville, the 1898 renovations by C.F. James are completed.  The breeze way has been replaced with a three story extension to the main building (housing a new Presidential suite, campus dining room, and eight double-occupancy dorm rooms).  Additionally, a balcony has been added running the entire length of the building.  In order to make space for the balcony, the staircases are now configured to be parallel to the street.  The grounds have also been re-fenced.

(This image provided courtesy of the Danville Historical Society.)

Renovations as Seen in Sanborn Maps

C.F. James's 1898 renovations to the campus are clear in the alterations to the layouts published in Sanborn Maps between 1886 (on the left) and 1899 (on the right).  The breezeway and side-entry staircase have been replaced with the extension to the main building, and the small balcony (with grand staircase) has been replaced with a much larger balcony (with new staircases absent from the drawing entirely).

Colorized Image of the Patton Street Campus

This colorized postcard of the campus - printed some time between 1905 and 1910 - provides our best sense of what the building would have looked like in full color.  A red-brick building with white trim, balconies, cupola, and fencing, note that even in this hand-colored copy, the 1898 expansion is clearly of a lighter shade than the rest of the structure.  A modern viewer will also note that the building predates window screens, as the curtains can be seen blowing freely outside of one of the second floor windows.

An Office Circa 1906

In this image from the 1906 college catalogue, an office (very likely the President's office) is shown.  Among the miscellaneous decorations and paperwork, in the center of the image (directly above the typewriter), is a full size copy of the faculty photo pages from the most recent college yearbook.  Two of many interesting details are: the use of a branded calendar (from the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company), and what appears to be 35 individual mailboxes freestanding atop of the roll-top desk.

A "Faculty Room"

This very small, and thus very blurry, picture from the 1906 catalog is the only known image of faculty space on campus.  It is labeled simply "Faculty room," though it is not clear if it is an office, a teaching space, or perhaps even a living area.  (A few faculty did occasionally live on campus.)  The picture is too blurry to accurately identify any noteworthy details.  It is included here simply because it exists.

The Campus Parlor

One of two nearly identical photos of the campus parlor, this particular image is from the 1908 catalog.  This double-room occupied a corner of one of the buildings (there are windows on two walls), and most notably contained a piano and some comfortable seating.  This would have been one of the primary public spaces for students who were neither attending classes, nor in their own dorm rooms.

The Original Library

This image from the 1908 catalog shows the college's original library.  Featuring glass fronted book cases on the walls, and a table piled high with periodicals, the room seems crowded and not overly welcoming in this picture.  However, the library - primarily built through the outreach efforts of the Philomathean literary society - would have been not only a research location, but also a meeting space for club activity.  In another extant image, the yearbook editorial staff is shown gathered around the central table which has, mercifully, been freed of the copious magazines seen here.

A Dorm Room in 1908

This grainy image from the 1908 catalog is one of only two known images of a student dorm room in the Patton Street building.  The walls are positively bursting with framed and unframed artwork and images, while the bed seems uncomfortably close to the vanity and mirror.  Hiding in the gloom next to the bed is either a side-table or a small desk.  In the corner, delightfully, is a conical hat hung on the wall from a string.

A Second Dorm Room in 1908

Here, in another image from the 1908 catalog, we have the only other surviving image of a student dorm room.  Despite also swimming in art (note "His Late Master's Voice," the famous image of a dog listening to a record player, in the upper left), this room has a lighter and more pleasant atmosphere.  The curtains, the less ponderous bed-frame, and the roomier layout all help the room seem more inviting.  Hanging in front of the shutters are two college pennants, at least one of which clearly reads "RC" (for Roanoke College, then the name of Averett).