Charles Culbertson

Special to The News Leader

Today, historians and preservationists shake their heads in wonder over the 1930 demolition of Staunton’s historic Virginia Hotel at the corner of South New and Johnson streets. Built in the 1840s, this three-story structure of red brick and white columns represented Staunton’s first luxury hotel and claimed a historical richness nearly unparalleled in the Queen City.

Even in 1930, when preservation was an almost unheard-of concept, people recognized the Virginia Hotel’s significant historic value. Built upon the site formerly occupied by the Washington Tavern — the leather-bound register of which held the signatures of Henry Clay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Millard Fillmore — the Virginia Hotel reflected the growth and prosperity of the town it served.

It remained Staunton’s premier hotel even after the arrival of the American Hotel in 1854.

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During the War Between the States, the Virginia served as headquarters to Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Later in the conflict, the hotel would be used as a billet for generals of both sides, including Union Gen. David Hunter who, after invading Staunton, tossed wounded Confederates out of the Virginia and used it for his headquarters.

The Virginia Hotel was also used by Confederate Gen. Jubal Early in which he threw a dinner for two captured Union generals — Benjamin Kelley and George Crook — before sending them to a Richmond prison.

Over the years, ownership of the Virginia changed hands a number of times, and in the early part of the 20th century renovations led to its renaming as the New Virginia Hotel. But the grand opening in 1924 of the Stonewall Jackson Hotel adjacent to the Virginia would, in just six years, sound the death knell for the historic old hostelry.

Why would they do it, especially if the Virginia Hotel’s history was a matter of local pride? Oddly, it was local pride and tourism promotion that lent impetus to the wrecking ball. On June 25, 1926, Alexander T. Moore – owner of the Stonewall Jackson Hotel and the Virginia – hosted a “banquet-rally” in which five civic organizations from throughout the city gathered to hear an address about how Staunton was becoming a focal point for tourists.

Moore told the gathering that tourists from all over the United States were coming to Staunton, thanks to the efforts of Shenandoah Valley, Inc., a regional Chamber of Commerce formed in 1924 and composed of influential businessmen, bankers and politicians. SVI tirelessly promoted the area, and shortly after its formation passed a resolution calling for the creation of a new national park in the Valley on lands owned by the National Forest Service.

These and other efforts, said Moore at the 1926 meeting, were working so well in bringing people to Staunton and the Shenandoah Valley that housing was now a chief concern. Therefore, he announced, he would demolish the Virginia Hotel and erect a new facility to accommodate Staunton’s influx of tourists.

The Virginia Hotel had four years and four months left before the wrecking ball would finally swing. On Oct. 5, 1930, Moore closed the Virginia for good and announced that razing of the structure would begin immediately. There was, apparently, little or no outcry, just glowing reports of the "handsome addition" to the Stonewall Jackson that would soon stand in its place.

The new, $700,000 structure was to stand eight stories high, with a garage on the ground floor capable of accommodating 70 vehicles. The corner of the building would house a coffee shop and, next to it on New street, a "tonsorial shop." The new structure's setback from the street would make room for a veranda on the New Street side.

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The second floor would feature a beauty shop and a ballroom with a seating capacity of 600.

"The ballroom," said Moore, "will be one of the handsomest in the country."

The remaining five floors were to contain 168 rooms, each with a private bath, while the top floor would house 15 modern apartments.

A single line in an Evening News Leader story of Oct. 6, 1930, served as the Virginia Hotel's epitaph:

"The Virginia is a historical building and has housed General 'Stonewall' Jackson and other celebrities."

The Virginia Hotel came down, but construction of its replacement – which was to have occurred the following spring – never happened. Financial woes exacerbated by the Great Depression killed the project, and the space once magnificently filled by one of the commonwealth's most historic structures remained vacant for years.

A series of low-slung, visually unappealing gas stations occupied the lot in the latter part of the 20th century. Today, Staunton's newest parking garage stands on the site of the old Virginia Hotel.

The loss of the Virginia Hotel is today regarded by preservationists as one of the greatest tragedies to befall Staunton's historic downtown, along with the Central Avenue "urban renewal" demolitions of the 1960s and the razing of two-thirds of a city block in the 1980s by Community Federal Savings and Loan for a parking lot and drive-through.

Contact Charles Culbertson at stauntonhistory@gmail.com.