Chatham in Pittsylvania County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Giles Gateway Park

Photographed by C. Ryan Dodson, March 7, 2026

1. Giles Gateway Park Marker

Inscription.

Giles Gateway Park. . Giles Gateway Park Dedicated to the memory of Harvey Edmund Giles Jr. Chatham Town Manager, September 2010 - December 2015 By Chatham First, Inc. and Town of Chatham. Long known as Bolanz Corner, this street corner was the gateway to 20th century Chatham. Passengers, including sales and trades people, farmers, and students of the Chatham Episcopal Institute (Chatham Hall) and Chatham Training Institute (Hargrave Military Academy) disembarked from the Southern Railway at the bottom of Depot Street and made their way into town., You are standing on the site of the Henry Bolanz store, shown as the yellow rectangle at the corner of Main Street and Depot Street in both the 1896 and 1913 maps. The Bolanz grocery featured candies, bakery items, fruit, and other staples. This interior photograph, dated 1916, shows Mr. Bolanz (right) and Maurice Taylor, a clerk (left)., The corner was vacant by 1938, when William Fretwell brought a streetcar here from Reidsville, North Carolina, and set it up as a diner. Fretwell's, also known as Bill's Diner, was famous for its hot dogs with chili. Walter Whittle purchased the streetcar and changed the name in 1983. Streetcar Named Desire was the only African American owned streetcar diner in Virginia., The large 2-story brick building (1908) is Hunt Motor Co. John P. Hunt and D. T. Billings purchased the building from J. H. Whitehead and R.D. Whitehead in 1918. The building had previously housed livery stables and an outlet for farm implements and buggies., At the right is Viccellio Bros. and White farm implement store (c. 1920s) with a gas pump out front. Roy Mitchell remodeled the structure as Mitchell's Five and Ten Cent Store in the 1950s. It was Pope's Department Store before J. W. Thomasson opened Chatham Furniture Co., In this 1930s postcard, Bolanz store is gone; the Hunt Motor Co. buliding is now occupied by a drug store and a garage. Grubb Ford, Parson's Ford and Hampco Apparel later occupied the bulding, now owned by PATHS (Piedmont Acess To Health Services)., This photograph (c. 1923) shows three buildings across Main Street: J. H. Womack built First Natlonal Bank of Chatham (center) in 1914: It failed in 1930. A restaurant for many years, at one time owned by Patricia Newby Giles (Edmund's wife), the building is knawn to many às Pat's Place., On the right, the Collie Building (c. 1920) Housed the Collie Hotel and the Chatham Post Office until 1936 when the current post office was built as a WPA project. Dennis and Kate Powell acquired the building in 1934 and operated the Powell Hotel there until 1975. Today the building houses offices and apartments., On the left is a building constructed by the Womack family around 1920. Whitehead Co., Inc. purchased the building in 1934 and sold seed, feed, and farm equlpment, Elliott Hardware took ownership in 1964 followved by Meeting and Meet Antiques, and later Commonwealth Pharmacy.

Giles Gateway Park
Dedicated to the memory of Harvey Edmund Giles Jr.
Chatham Town Manager, September 2010 - December 2015
By Chatham First, Inc. and Town of Chatham
Long known as Bolanz Corner, this street corner was the gateway to 20th century Chatham. Passengers, including sales and trades people, farmers, and students of the Chatham Episcopal Institute (Chatham Hall) and Chatham Training Institute (Hargrave Military Academy) disembarked from the Southern Railway at the bottom of Depot Street and made their way into town.

You are standing on the site of the Henry Bolanz store, shown as the yellow rectangle at the corner of Main Street and Depot Street in both the 1896 and 1913 maps. The Bolanz grocery featured candies, bakery items, fruit, and other staples. This interior photograph, dated 1916, shows Mr. Bolanz (right) and Maurice Taylor, a clerk (left).

The corner was vacant by 1938, when William Fretwell brought a streetcar here from Reidsville, North Carolina, and set it up as a diner. Fretwell's, also known as Bill's Diner, was famous for its hot dogs with chili. Walter Whittle purchased the streetcar and changed the name in 1983. Streetcar Named Desire was the only African American owned streetcar diner in Virginia.

The large 2-story brick building

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(1908) is Hunt Motor Co. John P. Hunt and D. T. Billings purchased the building from J. H. Whitehead and R.D. Whitehead in 1918. The building had previously housed livery stables and an outlet for farm implements and buggies.

At the right is Viccellio Bros. and White farm implement store (c. 1920s) with a gas pump out front. Roy Mitchell remodeled the structure as Mitchell's Five & Ten Cent Store in the 1950s. It was Pope's Department Store before J. W. Thomasson opened Chatham Furniture Co.

In this 1930s postcard, Bolanz store is gone; the Hunt Motor Co. buliding is now occupied by a drug store and a garage. Grubb Ford, Parson's Ford and Hampco Apparel later occupied the bulding, now owned by PATHS (Piedmont Acess To Health Services).

This photograph (c. 1923) shows three buildings across Main Street: J. H. Womack built First Natlonal Bank of Chatham (center) in 1914: It failed in 1930. A restaurant for many years, at one time owned by Patricia Newby Giles (Edmund's wife), the building is knawn to many às Pat's Place.

On the right, the Collie Building (c. 1920) Housed the Collie Hotel and the Chatham Post Office until 1936 when the current post office was built as a WPA project. Dennis and Kate Powell acquired the building in 1934 and operated the Powell Hotel there until 1975. Today the building houses offices and apartments.

On

Photographed by C. Ryan Dodson, March 7, 2026

2. Giles Gateway Park Marker

the left is a building constructed by the Womack family around 1920. Whitehead Co., Inc. purchased the building in 1934 and sold seed, feed, and farm equlpment, Elliott Hardware took ownership in 1964 followved by Meeting & Meet Antiques, and later Commonwealth Pharmacy.

Erected 2017 by Chatham First, Inc. and Town of Chatham.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1896.

Location. 36° 49.5′ N, 79° 23.91′ W. Marker is in Chatham, Virginia, in Pittsylvania County. It is at the intersection of Depot Street and South Main Street, on the right when traveling west on Depot Street. The Marker is located in Giles Gateway Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 30 South Main Street, Chatham VA 24531, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Southern Virginia,

specifically in the Piedmont,

and in Southside Virginia.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Chatham (a few steps from this marker); Competition Alley (within shouting distance of this marker); Third County Courthouse (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Fourth County Courthouse (about 300 feet away); Fifth County Courthouse (about 300 feet away); Second County Courthouse

Photographed by C. Ryan Dodson, March 7, 2026

3. Giles Gateway Park Marker

(about 300 feet away); First County Courthouse (about 300 feet away); Ex Parte Virginia (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chatham.

Giles Gateway Park Maps image. Click for full size.

Photographed by C. Ryan Dodson, March 7, 2026

4. Giles Gateway Park Maps

Credits. This page was last revised on March 9, 2026. It was originally submitted on March 7, 2026, by C. Ryan Dodson of Danville, Virginia. This page has been viewed 12 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 7, 2026, by C. Ryan Dodson of Danville, Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.