Page 22 - A Narrative of the History of Roanoke Virginia

boon for local businessmen, it saddled the town with chronic revenue shortfalls that
prevented even modest road and sewer improvements or adequate public services.
The consequences were readily apparent; most of the original settlement and much
of the haphazardly laid-out business district had dirt or mud streets, plank sidewalks,
kerosene laps, cisterns and wells for water, and privies or creeks for sewers.

“New town,” by contrast, benefited from urban planning, running water, sewers, and
macadamized streets. By the end of 1883, Roanoke was just beginning to grapple
with its revenue shortfalls and infrastructure problems, and its residents were just
setting the initial stage for building a community out of their town’s diverse and often
hostile factions. This prevailing atmosphere laid the groundwork for some serious
attention to be directed toward Roanoke’s inherent problems.

In the next installment a civil engineer was hired to make recommendations but the
worrisome maneuvering of Clark and company to continue to create the new city,
ignoring Roanoke altogether, to the east, towards Vinton and Bonsack was of great
concern to the current citizenry of “Old Town” Roanoke.