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.
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
Updated: September 22, 2022
