Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 06/20/1989
NRHP Listing Date 01/11/1991
NRHP Reference Number 90002110
These shady residential streets of the Miller-Southside Residential Historic District in the Montgomery County town of Blacksburg present a model image of a wholesome, small-town neighborhood of the first half of the 20th century. The houses, though unpretentious, are comfortable, well-built, and well-designed. With an abundance of lawn and trees they make the perfect setting for nurturing the American family ideal. Individuality is preserved through some half-dozen stylistic idioms including Dutch Colonial, Tudor Revival, Georgian Revival, Bungalow, and Foursquare. The grid-plan blocks of the Miller-Southside Residential Historic District comprise two contiguous additions. The first was a 1913 development by the Southside Land Company. The second, the Miller Addition, was laid out in 1919. An openness and cohesion was achieved with a twenty-foot setback and a minimum construction value. Virginia Tech architectural professor, Clinton Harriman Cowgill, helped set the architectural tone in the 1930s by designing some ten houses in the Miller-Southside Residential Historic District, all variations of the Colonial and Tudor revivals.
The Miller-Southside Residential Historic District was listed in the registers under the Prehistoric and Historic Resources of Montgomery County MPD.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: September 22, 2022
