Rorer Iron/Narrow Gauge RR Crossing at Roanoke Alms House

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In the early 1970s, I do indeed remember my mother (deceased, 1981) referring to that building as the "Poor House."  When I asked her why, she said that it was used as a sort of rescue mission or soup kitchen for destitute people during the Great Depression.
Bill KingArlington, Virginia



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From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Sat, Jan 26, 2019 9:22 pm
Subject: Rorer Iron/Narrow Gauge RR Crossing at Roanoke Alms House

At the GOB-E Archives work session today, I found an artifact in the back room which needs restoration due to its rough condition. It is an oversized book of folded section maps for the N&W's Winston Salem Division, based upon the Roanoke & Southern Rwy which opened for service in 1891. The date of this map is uncertain, but it shows the crossing of the Rorer Iron Company's narrow gauge railroad at exactly the spot I've been trying to confirm. Gordon Hamilton was present to keep my bearings straight, literally, because I could not make out the direction of travel at first. 
In the photograph attached here, it crosses the N&W just past the Alms House, and heads toward modern-day Colonial Avenue. The Alms House (Poor House) building is still existing, and serves as a student resource center on the campus of Virginia Western Community College. It is called the Thomas House. I looked this up and took a screen shot to show how this section looks today. 
PS - rumor has it the Alms House was haunted for several decades until a ghost whisperer made contact with the spirits back in the early 2000's and talked them into leaving. True urban legend...

Stephen Warren, Roanoke

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