The Roanoke Valley in the 1950s

Drag racing at Starkey, the debut of television, mass polio vaccinations, college football games at Victory Stadium, Roanoke’s Diamond Jubilee, Salem’s Sesquicentennial, and Vinton’s Dogwood Festival

American Viscose closed, the N&W Railway switched to diesel and the General Electric plant opened. The Roanoke Valley welcomed the Children’s Zoo on Mill Mountain and the Miss Virginia Pageant to Hotel Roanoke. From a new terminal at Woodrum Field to the erection of Cave Spring High School, municipal projects reflected the economic boom times. Sears Town, Miller & Rhoads, the viaduct, and a new main library altered downtown Roanoke. WDBJ and WSLS television stations went on the air, premiering local programs such as Saturday Session, Top O’ the Mornin’, and Uncle Looney. The nation’s top entertainers performed at the American Theatre, Lakeside, and the American Legion Auditorium. The valley’s arts scene produced the Roanoke Fine Arts Center, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, and Showtimers. Minor league baseball teams played to large crowds in the stands at Maher Field, Municipal Field and Springwood Park. Black leaders campaigned for equal pay, desegregation, and neighborhood equity.

By searching every edition of the Roanoke Times and the Roanoke Tribune from January 1950 through December 1959, local historian Nelson Harris documents the decade’s local events in sports, business, crime, arts, entertainment, religion, civil rights, politics, individual achievements, and healthcare.