Roanoke’s former First National Bank, erected in 1910, is the work of architect J. Kevan Peebles of Norfolk. Combining the most modern concepts of bank and office design with Renaissance detailing, the building demonstrates Peebles’s practical training as an engineer as well as his mastery of the repertoire of revivalist styles. The First National Bank occupied the building until 1926 when it was sold to the Liberty Trust Company. In 1953 it was purchased by the People’s Federal Savings and Loan Company, and in 1981 the building was bought by MFW Associates, who renovated it for office use, preserving the columned banking hall. Although no longer serving its original function, the building remains one of the state’s best-preserved Progressive-era bank buildings and is a reminder Roanoke’s historic position as a banking center. The First National Bank building contributes to the Roanoke Downtown Historic District.
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
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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