The Confederate army converted numerous warehouses and city squares in war-ridden Virginia into prisoner of war camps. This former tobacco warehouse became a prison for fifteen months between December 1863 and February 1865. The prison was crammed with several thousand Union troops, a condition that led to 1,323 of those men perishing while imprisoned here. Local citizens and the Confederate troops stationed here sympathized with the terrible conditions the prisoners faced, and many took small steps to alleviate their suffering. As the South suffered increasing privations as the Union gained control of eastern Virginia, however, local citizens had fewer resources and less of an inclination to aid suffering Yankee prisoners.
The city of Danville's latest mural depicts various aspects of tobacco growing, including a tobacco auction. The city's third mural was completed at the end of 2016. The 20-by-30-foot mural is painted on the side of 308 Craghead St. that faces Patton Street and will be visible from the River District’s busiest intersection at Main and Craghead streets, The next mural is already being planned to feature Danville native Wendell Scott, the first African-American NASCAR driver.
Completed December 2005 by mural artist and illustrator Wes Hardin, this 40' by 75' mural depicts the Old 97, a Southern Railway train enroute to Spencer, NC, before it derailed at Stillhouse Trestle in Danville on September 27, 1903, killing 11. The event served as an inspiration for songwriters and balladeers and the result is the now famous "Wreck of the Old 97". The mural is located in the River District at the corner of Main Street and Memorial Drive at the Gateway to the Historic Downtown and Tobacco Warehouse Districts
In 1886, Danville’s first trolleys used mule power. After two years, electrically operated vehicles replaced this primitive public conveyance. Later, still using the green and cream color scheme, modern streamlined vehicles supplanted open cars and in 1938, gasoline-powered buses replaced the iron-wheeled trolleys, bringing a nostalgic era to an end. Likenesses featured are Walter Gunn assisting wife, Gail, down the steps as young Andrew Preston Saunders climbs aboard. In the right inset are Mary and K. D. Williams, founders of Mary’s Diner. In the stroller at left is Jesse Brooks. The mural, created by artist Wes Hardin, can be seen at the corner of Spring and N. Union Street at the City's transportation hub
Over the past 150+ years in downtown Danville, Virginia, the four corners created by the intersection of Main and Union Streets have played host to many significant buildings. As you stand at this crossroads, imagine the various constructions pictured here. Realize that one corner has always been as it is today—and one has, until recently, always been a “place to stay.” The Dudley Block suffered a premature setback—and the once home of Woolworth’s awaits a new beginning. The downtown segment of the River District is a 2016 Virginia Main Street Community. Virginia Main Street is part of a successful national movement to revitalize America’s historic downtown business districts.
The Danville Municipal building in Virginia was the scene of one of the most violent attacks by a police department against civil rights protesters during the 1960s. The Danville sit-ins began in 1960 and occurred until 1963 when student activists, with the help of national civil rights groups, achieved slow integration of the Danville Public Library, city park, and several lunch counters throughout the city. Tensions between protesters and police came to a boiling point on June 10, 1963 when the police department arrested 50 demonstrators early in the day. Later that evening, a prayer vigil was held outside the local jail next to City Hall (now the Danville Municipal Building) when Virginia State Troopers, local police, and deputized garbage collectors cornered the demonstrators and used fire hoses and nightclubs to disperse them. This event became known as the “Night of Infamy.” In response, Martin Luther King Jr. came to Danville in support of the demonstrators on July 11, 1963.
The Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History is located in the Sutherlin Mansion on Millionaires Row in Danville, Virginia. Built for William T. Sutherlin in 1859, the house has become well known as the "Last Capital of the Confederacy." It served in this capacity from April 3 until 10, 1865, just weeks before the Civil War came to an end. In 1974, the house was opened as a Fine Arts & History Museum.
The Holbrook-Ross Historic District, named for its two major streets, is significant as the first neighborhood in Danville for African American professionals. Lawyers, ministers, dentists, and physicians, as well as business owners, insurance agents, postal clerks, and skilled craftsmen, made it their home in the late 19th century. It grew rapidly during the 1880s following construction of the Danville School, the city's public school for Blacks. By the turn of the 20th century, Holbrook Street had become Danville's foremost Black residential address.
The Langhorne House is the birthplace of Nancy Langhorne, Viscountess Astor, the first woman seated in the British House of Commons. Her sister Irene married the artist Charles Dana Gibson who immortalized his wife as the "Gibson Girl," the international fashion ideal of the turn of the 20th century. Their father, Chiswell Langhorne, worked in the tobacco industry while in Danville and is credited with developing the tobacco auctioneer's chant at Danville's famous loose-leaf tobacco auctions. A historical marker is located at the corner of Broad and Main Streets. The Langhorne House museum is open Saturdays 2:00-5:00 pm, or by appointment
This historical marker depicts the childhood home of Irene Langhorne Gibson, who became the model for artist Charles Dana Gibson's iconic "New Woman" of the turn-of-the-century. The popularity of the image was such that the "Gibson Girl" could be seen throughout the period in magazines, newspapers, and on merchandise. The house was built in 1874 but later moved to 117 Broad Street. Irene married artist Charles Dana Gibson in 1895. The artist created many different "Gibson Girl' illustrations over his career, incorporating some of the alluring traits he found in his wife in creating the ideal "New Woman" of the turn-of-the-century.
This historical marker stands in front of the former home of Virginia politician Andrew Jackson Montague. Montague served as governor between 1902 and 1906. He was also the attorney general of Virginia between 1898 and his election as governor in 1902. His home was built in 1891, a period when Montague served as the attorney for the Richmond and Danville Railroad. It was during these years that Montague made connections and established himself as a leading citizen and capable attorney. It was this reputation, as well as the political connections he made in Richmond, that spurred his long career in state and national politics. Today, Montague is best known for his support of a campaign to purge African American voters from the polls. Although the 15th Amendment to the Constitution guaranteed that the right to vote could not be restricted according to race or previous condition of servitude, Montague and other leading Virginia politicians rewrote the state constitution to include a provision that restricted suffrage through a literacy test that was often unevenly applied to African Americans.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This walking tour of historic Danville Virginia includes historic buildings, landmarks, and several historical markers that include everything from the town's history as the center of tobacco production to its role in both the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement.
