About

The Wytheville Historic District is in the center of Wytheville, an incorporated town of slightly over 8,000 population located in Wythe County, Virginia. The approximately 170-acre district is located between 2,260' and 2,320' in elevation and is characterized by gently undulating topography. A small spring-fed stream flows southeast through the center of the district to Reed Creek, a tributary of the New River. The district contains 292 buildings, mostly commercial and residential buildings with an admixture of churches, schools, government buildings, and transportation-related buildings. Of these buildings, 245 are classified as contributing and forty-seven as noncontributing to the historic character of the district. The oldest buildings in the district appear to date to about 1830, although it is possible that some date to the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The most recent contributing buildings date to the early 1940s, and there are buildings in the district constructed as recently as 1994. Construction materials and techniques are varied; the oldest buildings are log, usually v-notched. Wood frame and brick construction predominated from the mid-nineteenth century on, and builders experimented with concrete block construction (both rock-faced concrete block and smooth cinder block) in the 1920s and 1930s. Wall sheathing includes weatherboard (plain, beaded, and novelty cut), board-and-batten, stucco (plain and pebble dash), aluminum, asbestos, and vinyl. Roof sheathing includes wood, slate, asbestos, and asphalt shingles, metal (both standing seam and pressed shingle pattern), and built-up asphalt. Foundations were generally constructed of indigenous limestone until the early twentieth century, with brick ranking second in frequency and poured concrete and concrete block occurring with greater regularity as the twentieth century progressed. With a contributing ratio of more than 80%, the Wytheville Historic District has a high overall level of architect14 integrity. The district's good integrity results from the fact that most buildings retain their historic form, exterior detailing, and important features such as porches and bay windows. On Main Street, the commercial heart of the district, most buildings have had their historic shopfronts altered, but many retain unaltered upper-story facades. The district is relatively free of large parking lots, except in the area surrounding the Wythe County Courthouse. This area is also the location of a concentration of noncontributing modern buildings, mainly one-story professional offices along South Sixth Street. The district has a good overall survival rate of historic landscape features. The east and west ends of Main Street are lined with mature maples, a planting scheme that has characterized the street since the late nineteenth century. The stream that flows through the district has been developed into the Elizabeth Brown Memorial Park, perpetuating the town park that existed at the headwaters of the stream in the late nineteenth century. Historic brick and concrete sidewalks, stone retaining walls, and ornamental trees are found throughout the district.