A town of Heavy Lick was chartered inside 1874. It became a town of Roanoke inside 1882 and the independent city of Roanoke 2 years late. Its location in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, in the middle of the Roanoke Valley between Maryland and Tennessee, made it a transport hub of american Virginia & contributed to its zoom. When of the 2000 census, the city got the sum people of 94,911.

A City of Roanoke is adjacent to, however politically separate from either, Roanoke County.

A United States Census Bureau includes in Roanoke's area a counties of Botetourt and Roanoke, and a cities of Salem and Roanoke. A area's people it used to become that trey nose count has been reported to be: 1980 --- 220,393
1990 --- 224,477
2000 --- 235,932

History

Fallowing a American Civil War (1861-1865), William Mahone, a civil engineer and hero of the Battle of the Crater, was a thrust in the linkage of Triplet Virginia railroads to form the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a new line extending from Norfolk to Bristol, Virginia in 1870. Fallowing many years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's role as a railroad builder ended within 1881 when northern financial interests took control. At a foreclosure auction, a AM&O was purchased by E.W. Clark & Co., a personal banking business firm around Philadelphia which controlled the Shenandoah Valley Railroad then under construction. A AM&O was renamed Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W).

Frederick J. Kimball, a civil engineer and partner in the Clark firm, headed the new line and consolidated it with the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. For the junction for the Shenandoah & the Norfolk & American, Kimball & his board of directors selected a little Virginia village known as Heavy Lick, on the Roanoke River. Although a thankful citizens offered to rename their town "Kimball", in his guide, it agreed to last by using Roanoke fallowing a flow of any stream. WheNorth a N&W brought people and jobs, the Town of Roanoke quickly became an independent city in 1884. As a matter of fact, Roanoke became a city and so quickly that it earned the nickname "Magic City."

Kimball, whose interest within geology was responsible for the opening of the Pocahontas coalfields inside american Virginia and West Virginia, pushed N&W lines through the wilds of West Virginia, north to Columbus, Ohio and Cincinnati, Ohio, and south to Durham, North Carolina and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This gave a railroad a route structure it was to utilize for further than Lx years.

A Virginian Railway (VGN), an engineering marvel of its day, was conceived & built by William Nelson Page and Henry Huttleston Rogers Following the Roanoke River, the VGN was built through the City of Roanoke early in the 20th century. It was merged sustaining a North&W in 1959.

A opening of the coalfields mass produced North&W prosperous and Pocahontas bituminous coal world-famous. Transported per North&W and neighboring Virginian Railway (VGN), it fueled half the world's navies and today stokes steel mills and power plants all over the globe. A North&W was famous for manufacturing steam locomotives in-house. It was at a Norfolk & Western's Roanoke Shops, which employed thousands of craftsmen, where decades later the famed classes A, J, and Y6 locomotives would be designed, built and maintained, made the company known industry-wide for its excellence in steam power.

As much as 1960, North&W was the last major railroad in the United States to convert from steam to diesel motive power. Still, many of its illustrious steam engines, including J class # 611 & a class # 1218 come okay, within display at the [http://www.vmt.org Virginia Museum of Transportation] in Roanoke. A steam age is likewise chronicled around pic in the [http://www.linkmuseum.org/ O. Winston Hyperlink Museum] likewise within Roanoke.

Now, Roanoke is famed for its Chili Cook-Off, Strawberry Festival, & a big red, white, & blue lit Mill Mountain Star on Mill Mountain, which is visible from either several points in the city & neighboring vale. At a top of Mill Mountain is little zoo which features animals which need a cool mountaintop temperatures & atmosphere.

Wrestler Tony Atlas is originally from Roanoke.

A city's newspaper, [http://www.roanoke.com The Roanoke Times], has been published for Long hundred years. Inside 2002, it was intended a right-see day-to-day newspaper in a united states, based on data from the 2002 Scarborough Report. Of 162 newspapers inside top U.S. metropolitan areas, A Roanoke Days ranked 1st in the percentage of adults world health organization scroll through their day-after-day newspaper.

Geography
Based on data from a United States Census Bureau, the city has the sum metropolitan area of 111.One km² (42.9 mi²). 111.Single km² (42.Niner mi²) of these are l& and Cypher.Unity km² (Cypher.04 mi²) of these are water supply. A amount region is Nought.07% a river.

Inside a city limits is Mill Mountain, which stands detached from either surrounding ranges. Its summit commands the learn from of twisting streams, lakes, & wells throughout, ridges, vale, and distant peaks.

Economic Statistics: Roanoke MSA

A Roanoke, VA MSA is a U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Virginia when defined per United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as of June, 2003.

''Note: Since the state constitutional vary around 1871, tons cities around Virginia are independent cities and they are non legally located in any county. A OMB considers these independent cities to exist as county-equivalents for the purpose of defining MSAs in Virginia. For for each one one MSA is employed by its counties, so cities, each inside alphabetical choose, & does'nt by size.''

A Roanoke, VA MSA includes: Botetourt County Craig County Franklin County Roanoke County [http://www.roanokegov.com/ City of Roanoke] City of Salem

Landmarks & Points of Interest
[http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/ Blue Ridge Parkway] [http://www.grandintheatre.com/ Grandin Theatre] [http://www.hotelroanoke.com/ Hotel Roanoke] Mill Mountain Star [http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/VAROAstar.html] [http://www.mmzoo.org/ Mill Mountain Zoo] [http://www.hollyeats.com/RoanokeWeinerStand.htm Roanoke Weiner Stand] [http://www.texastavern-inc.com/ Texas Tavern]

Arts, History & Culture in Roanoke
[http://www.explorepark.org/ Virginia's Explore Park] [http://www.vmt.org/ Virginia Museum of Transportation] [http://www.artmuseumroanoke.org/ Art Museum of Western Virginia] [http://www.history-museum.org/ History Museum of Western Virginia] [http://www.smwv.org/ Science Museum of Western Virginia] [http://www.harrisonmuseum.org/ Harrison Museum of African-American Culture] [http://www.rso.com/ Roanoke Symphony Orchestra] [http://www.operaroanoke.org/ Opera Roanoke] [http://www.millmountain.org/ Mill Mountain Theatre] [http://www.linkmuseum.org/ O. Winston Hyperlink Museum] [http://www.jeffcenter.org/shaftman.htm/ Jefferson Center]

Speciality Histories about Roanoke
[http://www.forgotten-roanoke.com/ Downtown Roanoke's history revealed] [http://www.roanokefirefighters.blogspot.com/ The History of the Roanoke Fire Department in progress from the 1880's to present, with current news and links.] [http://members.cox.net/oldroanoke/ Old Roanoke - A photographic history of Roanoke Virginia] [http://members.cox.net/lendys/ The Lendy's Web Page]