Self-Guided Tour of Historic Gainsboro for a greater perspective and understanding of Black history in Roanoke and the surrounding region.
We hope this list will introduce you to some of the amazing examples of Black history and culture that are part of our community in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Booker T. Washington
Before he would go on to become one of the most prominent and influential African Americans in the United States, Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on a farm in Franklin County. Today, that farm is the location of the
Booker T. Washington National Monument, which spotlights Washington’s life and legacy, while also offering a glimpse of what it would have been like on a tobacco farm in the mid 1800s.