{"id":8805,"date":"2026-03-12T19:59:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T00:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=8805"},"modified":"2026-03-12T19:59:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T00:59:52","slug":"history-demolished-by-roanoke-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=8805","title":{"rendered":"History Demolished by Roanoke College"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming back from a travel-filled spring break, I hoped for some time to unwind on a familiar walk around Elizabeth Campus (EC), but what met me was a charming building reduced to rubble instead.\u00a0 Every time I have walked by the building, structured like a house from more than a century ago, I have been struck by the sense of life emanating from it, despite its vacancy.\u00a0 The character of such a house is not something to take for granted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Elizabeth Campus has housed many institutions in its history, starting with Roanoke\u2019s College for Women.\u00a0 Not long after the Roanoke Women\u2019s College came into being, the namesake of Elizabeth Campus consolidated with the aforementioned college in 1915.\u00a0 Both colleges enrolled 200 students each at the time of the merger.\u00a0 Elizabeth College, which moved to the property after starting in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1897 under the auspices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, was a pioneering liberal arts college for women.\u00a0 The \u201cElizabeth\u201d of Elizabeth College comes from Ann Elizabeth Watts, the mother-in-law of the Lutheran Synod trustee Charles Banks King, one of the college\u2019s cofounders and an alumnus of Roanoke College.<\/span><\/p>\n

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After a great fire destroyed the main building of Elizabeth College in 1922, the Lutheran Children\u2019s Home of the South purchased the land in 1924.\u00a0 This institution was founded in 1888 by Rev. William McClanahan, an early graduate of Roanoke College who once served as a financial assistant to President Bittle.\u00a0 The five main buildings currently on EC were constructed at this time and were completed and dedicated on November 9, 1926.\u00a0 In the early years of the Children\u2019s Home, the financial support and leadership for the institution were provided by many of the namesakes of buildings on our main campus.\u00a0 The Children\u2019s Home ceased operations in 1963.\u00a0 During the Orphanage\u2019s time on EC, the connection to the building that was demolished over spring break lies in the fact that it was the residence of the institution\u2019s superintendent.\u00a0 The Lutheran Children\u2019s Home of the South has gone through several evolutions and expansions since the 1970s, now functioning under the name enCircle and offering social services across Virginia and extending into Martinsburg, West Virginia.<\/span><\/p>\n

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According to the City of Salem\u2019s public GIS site, the demolished building was built in 1932 and had a total assessment value of $885,300.\u00a0 Located at 324 Idaho Street, it was a two-story brick house with 7 rooms, including 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.\u00a0 The house was acquired by the Lutheran Children\u2019s Home of the South in 1964, and Roanoke College acquired the building in 1994.\u00a0 However, this is not the only historical building on campus that the administration has been covertly making efforts to demolish.\u00a0 At the beginning of this year, the Roanoke College Board voted to demolish the brick house at the corner of Market Street and Clay Street, likely known to most of you as the former residence of an underground sorority.\u00a0 During the citizen comment period of the Feb. 9th Salem City Council meeting, local citizens voiced their opposition to the demolition.\u00a0 One reason given stood out to me, as it was incredibly ironic in how it showed the contradictions of this college.\u00a0 It is believed that the house at 102 N. Market Street was built by several of the enslaved people who were involved in the construction of our administration building.\u00a0 With the establishment of the Center for Studying Structures of Race and the installation of the Authors and Architects memorial, it is disturbing that the college will then go and destroy the work of people that they say they aim to honor.\u00a0 In response to challenges to the demolition, the college issued the following statement: \u201cA citizen came forward with a proposal to move the house, so we are delaying demolition for a few months to allow time to work through the details associated with their proposal. In this preliminary stage, it is too early to discuss the proposal, but we will be happy to provide more information if an agreement is finalized.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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While we have lost a historical building on Elizabeth Campus, we still have the opportunity to save a building with a rich and cherished history.\u00a0 So, moving forward, I hope the college greatly improves its communication with all concerned parties, including students, and expresses greater courtesy for the historical importance of Roanoke College.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/span><\/p>\n