North Danville

North Danville was established in 1877 as a distinct town across the Dan River from Danville proper. Its first mayor, John T. Keen, was appointed on July 13, 1880. For a brief period in the 1890s, the town went by the name Neapoils before being annexed to Danville in 1896. The Worsham Street bridge once connected North Danville to the city's tobacco warehouse district on the south side of the river, a vital link that was lost when the bridge was demolished in 2009. North Main and Worsham streets, both of which head uphill from the north bank of the river, meet near the North Theater (photos below). When this North Danville landmark opened in 1947 it was the last of the city’s “Main Street” moviehouses. , In contrast to the industrial , commercial and governmental functions clustered across the river, North Danville is a predominantly residential area. A small commercial district occupies three blocks on North Main Street, the main artery through the neighborhood. Victorian-style dwellings line the northern end of the street, which is crossed by side streets containing a variety of houses dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries (examples at right). Architectural styles within the neighborhood include Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Arts and Craft / Bungalow designs. , Leemont Cemetery, originally called North Danville Cemetery and later Neapolis Cemetery, was named after Thomas Jefferson Lee (d. 1887), an early spokesman for the establishment of the Town of North Danville. After the town was formed Lee served as a councilman, a member of numerous committees, and mayor. The cemetery, which borders the northwest corner of the district (see map at left), lies on the east side of Claiborne Street and is bounded by Clement Avenue on the north and First Street on the south. , The North Danville Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 is roughly bounded by North Main, Worsham, Claiborne, Keister, and West James Streets (see map at left). The district contains over 400 historic buildings dating to between circa 1-880 and 1955. Other designated historic districts in Danville include the Tobacco Warehouse and Residential Historic District, Dan River Mills Historic District, Downtown Danville Historic District, Old West End Historic District, and Holbrook-Ross Historic District. , Credits: This interpretive panel was designed by The Louis Berger Group, Inc., Richmond, Virginia, as part of the historic documentation efforts stipulated by the Memorandum of Agreement concerning the demolition of the Worsham Street Bridge. Input was provided by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR), the City of Danville, and the Danville Historical Society. Copies of the historical report and large-format black-and-white photographic documentation are housed with VDOT, VDHR, the Danville Historical Society, and the Library of Virginia.