Roanoke Virginia History

The development of Roanoke Valley and the city’s growth revolves around its geographical situation where Indian and animal trails crossed in the center, the key to its earliest settlement during the late 17th century. Known for its salt marshes, it was called “Big Lick”. Two roads followed the buffalo, elk and deer trails, one known as the north and south Great Road, and the other, called the Wilderness Road, ran east and west. A farming community developed, and the first permanent village was called Gainesborough, established in 1834. In 1838 there was a population of about 5,000 that included both white settlers and slaves. The city’s name, derived from the Indian word “Rawrenock” for their shell beads, was changed to Roanoke in 1881. The Roanoke Valley became one of the pathways for migration of the 18th and early 19th centuries to Kentucky and mid-west America. When the Shenandoah Valley Railroad came to the Valley in 1852, it missed Big Lick but the city simply moved itself closer. The railroad was important for the Army of Virginia during the Civil War, and later as a means of transporting coal from West Virginia to market. Roanoke became the center for railroad commerce in 1882, and the area began a rapid growth as a hub of railroad, now the now the Norfolk-Southern, transportation and commerce. Today, Roanoke (and Roanoke Valley) is a travel destination for cultural, commercial, and recreational attractions.