What follows was written in partnership and cooperation with the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History and funded, in partnership with Virginia Humanities. The roots of the Civil Rights movement go back to Reconstruction. For several years following the abolition of slavery, black Americans found themselves free to pursue opportunities previously denied them. Protected by the 14th Amendment of 1868, which guaranteed equal protection under the law, followed in 1870 by the 15th Amendment which ensured all (men) the right to vote, many black Americans pursued educations, positions in public office, and made significant inroads in their efforts to achieve lives of purpose, prosperity, and equality. At the same…

In the late 1800s, Danville was plagued with typhoid. Reports came in from those who visited the tobacco markets during the height of the summer months. This was a surprise to the residents and businessmen of the city. A Patrick County resident wrote to the Richmond Dispatch in the fall of 1876: Quite a gloom has been cast over our community by the recent death of so many of our citizens. We have had in this and the adjoining county a fever called the “Danville Fever”—a malignant form of bilious-fever—in the last few weeks. The following year, a similar letter was posted. Many of our most industrious farmers and useful…

Danville Police Chief R. E. Morris resided at 300 Girard Street in North Danville – near the Richmond Boulevard.  He lived there with his wife an nine children.  The youngest, Bessie and Jessie, were two-year-old twins in March of 1911. That’s when Chief Morris was up for re-appointment by the City Council.  But on the eve of that appointment, a man in a red sweater stepped off the train from Richmond. He made no announcements as to who he was or what his business entailed until he reached the courthouse. Upon arriving there, he presented himself as Secret Service from Atlanta, and requested that the Chief of Police be summoned.…

The recent damage from Hurricane Michael recalls an earlier disaster. The Danville Cyclone of 1911 struck unexpectedly on Sunday afternoon, June 18.  Many Danvillians saw the thunder and lightning storm approaching – including its funnel-shaped cloud darting back and forth.  The business area of the city along with what is now the Old West End were the hardest hit. The present historic district was then known for its avenues of trees, many of which were destroyed.  Main Street from Jefferson Avenue to Holbrook Avenue was impassable.  The photo above shows the damage on Holbrook Avenue with its trolley tracks invisible under the debris. Nearly every tree in Green Street Park…

The Old West End was once home to some movie stars!  Well, sort of. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, a Hollywood movie producer, Don Newland of Paramount Studios, travelled from city to city making two-reel silent comedy films in small towns. Local Newspapers paid to have the well-known producer come and film scenes to a ready-made script using local townspeople and the town itself as a backdrop. “A Danville girl is wanted to take the leading roll in the picture ‘Danville’s Hero’ which is to be produced in this city under the auspices of The Bee,” the newspaper announced. “What good looking Danville girl is going to play the title…