A history of Radford,
since 1887
Postcards, papers and photographs of Radford from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Radford was named for Dr. John B. Radford. Dr. Radford's home Arnheim was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. Radford was originally a small village of people that gathered near the New River, which was a major draw to travelers for fresh water and food while traveling west. The town's population grew rapidly after 1854 when the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was built nearby. A large depot was placed at Lovely Mount because of its strategic positioning between the eastern and western parts of the state. The actual station was not on Lovely Mountain, located on the southwestern side of town, but Lovely Mount was a known mountain and naming the station this would help people to remember the location of the depot. The Railroad Depot caused the population of Radford to boom. It also caused a major increase in the amount of trade and business in the area. Radford be…
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Radford’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewJohn Blair, 1850s: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Radford
See all 27 →
Radford, decade by decade
1990s
CommonsHistorical Marker at Ingles Ferry2024
CommonsAdams Cave Sign in2021
CommonsRadford, Virginia - panoramio (2)2016
CommonsLawrence Street2016
CommonsGrove Avenue2016
CommonsFourth Ave2016
CommonsCemetary - panoramio (1)2016
CommonsBisset Park from the Bridge2016
CommonsB-01, VA, USA2016
CommonsEnd Of Day2013
CommonsRadford Foundry20109 historic places in Radford
Radford has 9 listings on the National Register, and they protect 410 historic buildings, because East Radford Historic District (Additional Documentation) alone counts 300.
Where they are
Architectural styles
When they were listed
Listed 1969Ingles Ferry
Listed 1976Harvey House
Listed 1994La Riviere
Listed 1997Halwyck
Listed 2000East Radford Historic District (Additional Documentation)
Listed 2000Glencoe
Listed 2002Arnheim
Listed 2004Stonega Historic District
Listed 2005West Radford Commercial Historic DistrictThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as John Blair (1850s) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (12) and the Library of Congress (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.