Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 03/21/2013
NRHP Listing Date 05/28/2013
NRHP Reference Number 13000344
The Sussex County town of Waverly was established in 1854 on the Norfolk and Petersburg (now Norfolk Southern) Railroad. Waverly’s historic district is an unusually well-preserved depot town on the rail line connecting Norfolk with points west. The district’s earliest building dates from about 1880, but most of its historic buildings were constructed after a 1904 fire destroyed much of the town. Waverly’s prosperity derived from the processing and exporting of the region’s agricultural products and exploitation of the region’s timber from the late-19th through the mid-20th centuries. The Waverly Downtown Historic District’s buildings range from plain warehouses and small stores to large and elaborately detailed Classical Revival-style structures. The storefronts of many of the buildings were altered as business owners responded to the Great Depression and post World-War II trends by re-doing older buildings with Art Deco or modern elements.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: July 1, 2021
