“Something is happening in Danville, and it’s worth paying attention to,” wrote Cardinal News founding editor Dwayne Yancey in a 2024 op-ed. People are coming to Danville. Prosperity is marching in, down the streets where former tobacco warehouses sit like brick behemoths, along the Dan River where a massive textile mill is polished into something new, to the parks, the restaurants, and sui generis neighborhoods—all in a glorious state of restoration.
A new era is upon Danville, one formed on the foundation of art, hospitality, and leisure.
Artistic Collaborators
Danville’s old foundation was industry, and when tobacco and textiles left the city, so did many of its residents. Rick Barker grew up here, and when he planted his business among the abandoned warehouses along Craghead Street, his friends thought he was crazy. One block from the Dan River and crossed by railroads, this part of town was emptied when the tobacco industry left, but Barker saw opportunity.
The once quiet Craghead Street is now alive with parents shuttling their children to dance class, out-of-towners gathering at Ballad Brewing and Links Coffee House, and new residents leaving their lofts for work. The old warehouses and mill buildings have morphed into apartments, restaurants, and bustling businesses, part of the rebranded Danville River District.
As we step in and out of the restored buildings, all architectural marvels and meticulously renovated, Barker talks about adaptive reuse: “This area creates a fine opportunity for someone passionate about architecture. When you save architecture, what better statement can you make about community?”
A surge of repurposing led to an array of thriving boutique lodging in Danville, where each stay is an incomparable experience. The Bee transforms the former home of the Danville Register & Bee newspaper into a history-loaded hotel across from the courthouse. The Holbrook Hotel was a community medical building before becoming a chic stay where most rooms are now spacious suites. Not only have entrepreneurs changed the buildings’ use, but they have sparked downtown’s hospitality industry.
Barker’s Vantage Art Flats—fashioned from salvaged storefronts—anchors the 500 block of Craghead Street and o$ers stays in bespoke quarters dotted with an art collector’s touch. The nine unique suites operate as a short-term rental and showcase his appreciation for architecture and art. There is even an artist-in-residence who works in a street-facing studio and gallery. Curious eyes spot oversized, pop art animals Barker and his wife, Kristen, discovered on their honeymoon in Venice, Italy.
“I’m pretty keen on all things visual,” Rick says as he points to a 7-foot-tall pop art red elephant set between buildings of the Vantage Art Flats. The pachyderm is the site of promposals, wedding photos, and Instagram selfies. “Art sets an aspirational tone,” he adds.
While Rick appreciates static art, Kristen embraces motion and music as the president of the Danville Concert Association. In continuous operation since 1953, the group began as the Civic Music Association in 1929 and presents concerts and recitals at locations throughout the city.
“I’ve been a dancer since I was 4 years old,” says Kristen, who sees the arts as a draw for newcomers and visitors. “When it comes to the performing arts, it’s more than a selfish interest; we know it’s going to have an impact on the quality of life.”
A New Spin
Some of the Danville Concert Association events take place in Caesars Virginia Casino, a $650 million investment placed on a former mill site in the city’s Schoolfield neighborhood. The resort opened in late 2024 and injected 1,200 new jobs into the local economy. It now generates millions of dollars in gaming tax revenue annually and draws visitors from around the Commonwealth and neighboring states.
Caesars has embedded itself in Danville through partnerships with local vendors and community initiatives. The Bee and Holbrook boutique hotels offer stay-and-play packages for visitors seeking an off-campus experience.
The Caesars Foundation supports nonprofits in communities where employees live. In 2025, the foundation awarded a $35,000 grant to Danville-Pittsylvania Habitat for Humanity for the “Aging in Place” program, helping seniors remain in their homes. The Foundation also backs the HERO volunteer program, where Caesars employees dedicate time to causes strengthening the community.
The casino campus is also a cornucopia of entertainment, with a new 2,500-seat theater that delivers powerhouse performances from rock legends like the Marshall Tucker Band, ’80s icons Boy George and Culture Club, and comedians including Ron White and Matt Mathews. Meanwhile, Ramsay’s Kitchen and a diverse lineup of additional dining options keep foodies satiated.
Danville’s Restaurateurs
Beyond Caesars, Kristen recommends “Steve’s place” for lunch. She means Steve DelGiorno, owner of a converted Esso station turned all-day gathering spot called Crema & Vine. In Danville, locals refer to restaurants by their owners, not by establishment name. The Schoolfield Restaurant is “Johnny’s place.” Darcy and Jim are the King and Cropp of King Cropp Kitchen, a father-daughter owned restaurant established in 2018 with Chef Chris King in the kitchen.
“I fell in love with connecting with people,” says Darcy, whose restaurant caters to customers with food allergies and sensitivities but was founded on an appreciation of customer service and attention to quality ingredients—most of which they grew themselves. “For 10 years, we were the young couple with King Cropp Farm, and we kept the name when we opened a restaurant. Our farm is a lot smaller now that we have two kids.”
Danville Vice Mayor James Buckner adds that one of the city’s best restaurants is hidden in North Main. Moon River Thai offers distinguished Southeast Asian cuisine in an anomalous location across the Dan River. Owner Parichat Mongkhonkham received a $50,000 grant from the Danville Office of Economic Development to help open the area’s first Thai eatery.
The Historians
A block from King Cropp Kitchen stands the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History. The formidable Italian Villa-style home and Virginia Historic Landmark served as the last Capitol of the Confederacy. The history of Danville and SoSi—the name adopted by the regional tourism marketing organization, derived from a shorthand for Virginia’s “southside”—reaches into new surprises, beyond well-known events like the “Wreck of the Old 97” and “Bloody Monday.”
Local historian Ressie Luck-Brimmer of Our History Matters 434 strays from the predictable in her genealogical research and area walking tours, both public and private. She offers a number of curated tours, including a customized family reunion tour and a tour of Danville’s 22 historical markers. Additionally, she delivers deep dives into historic figures like Clarence 13X, a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War and founder of the Five-Percent Nation.
Joyce Wilburn presents more traditional history tours through Visit SoSi. Her choice for Danville’s most interesting historic figure: Nancy Langhorne Shaw Astor. Born here, Astor, known as Viscountess Astor after marrying William Wal- dorf Astor, the 2nd Viscount Astor, became the first woman ever elected to the British Parliament, a position she held for 26 years.
“She did that before women could even vote in the United States,” says the retired Sacred Heart Catholic School teacher and collector of oral histories from all over SoSi, who’s led walking tours since 2009. “I can talk about architecture, and I know the secrets inside the houses along Millionaire’s Row. Danville’s neighborhoods are like libraries, and each house is a book.”
The Lady and the Track
SoSi’s global attraction is the VIRginia International Raceway, and founder Connie Nyholm still enjoys getting behind the wheel of the pace car to show off the track she helped revitalize.
Located in Alton along a bend in the Dan River (you’ll actually have to dip into North Carolina to get here from Danville), VIR is home to amateur, professional, and club auto and motorbike races. “We found a ghost track and brought it back to life,” Nyholm says. “My founding partner [91-year-old Harvey Siegel] and I came along in ’98 and brought it back from the weeds. There were cows literally grazing on the front straightaway.”
The original track was built in 19((. The road course follows the natural terrain, dipping and
climbing miniature valleys and hills, and at one time circling a massive, 250-year-old oak tree. The tree’s legacy lives on through a former maintenance worker who squirreled home a few acorns. One acorn is now a tree, standing o#-track with a mailbox attached where visitors deposit public love letters.
Beyond tires on the track, VIR is home to a restaurant, three styles of track-view lodging, camping, go-karts, an industrial park, a racing school, and an o#-road/security training facility. Helping to maintain the off-road portion is Racing for Heroes, whose aim is to improve the physical health and mental well-being of veterans through competitive racing and therapy. December 2025 brought a game-changing milestone for VIR: full ownership of its land after decades of leasing, setting ambitious growth plans into fast-forward. Nyholm’s efforts at VIR exemplify how hard this area is working for a better future. “I don’t want a bigger slice of pie. I want a bigger pie for everyone,” Nyholm says, epitomizing the community spirit of SoSi.
Something surely is happening in Danville. And this is only the beginning of the growth and prosperity of an area fully embracing a new legacy of hospitality and charm.
The Old West End and Millionaire’s Row
In 1977, local historians Gary Grant and Mary Cahill wrote the book Victorian Danville and named 52 landmark homes they hoped to save from urban renewal. These homes along and surrounding Main Street were built by tobacco barons, textile magnates, and those who made a fortune in early Danville.
“Every one of these homes is unique. We want to make sure the historic feel of the neighborhood stays that way,” says Jonathan Holbrook, president of the Friends of the Old West End. What many consider the !nest collection of Victorian- and Edwardian-era architecture in Virginia has survived due to e”orts from private homeowners and the City of Danville. Visit SoSi offers an Old West End Historic Walking Tour guide and app (as well as one for nearby Chatham).
Danville: Eat, Go, Do
EAT
The Schoolffeld Restaurant: Considered the place for special occasions. 1009 W. Main St., TheSchoolfieldRestaurant.com
Golden Leaf Bistro: Chic lunch and dinner spot with Sunday brunch. 215 Craghead St., TheGoldenLeafBistro.com
Cotton at Riverside Mill: Riverside dining with vintage advertising prints from Dan River Mills. 109 Bridge St., Suite 600, CottonAtRiversideMill.com
Dell’Anno’s Pizza Kitchen: Solid downtown pizza joint. 316 Main St. DellAnnos.com
DRINK
Get social with the locals at Crema & Vine, a coffee shop turned evening bistro with occasional live entertainment. 1009 Main St., CremaVine.com
Ballad Brewing: A renovated tobacco warehouse provides plenty of space for beer enthusiasts. 600 Craghead St., BalladBrewing.com
2 Witches Winery and Brewing Co.: Industrial brewery started as a winery. 3545 209 Trade St., 2WitchesWineBrew.com
River District Social: Games and an active social life in a sports bar atmosphere. 680 Lynn St. C, RiverDistrictSocial.com
Me’s Burgers & Brews: Curated craft beer selection with creative burgers. 215 Main St., MesBurgers.com
DO
The Riverwalk Trail is over 13 miles of paved trails and home to the city’s LOVEworks sign. 629 Craghead St., DanvilleVa.gov/2035/Danville-Riverwalk-Trail
Science Museum of Virginia affliate Danville Science Center encourages hands-on learning. 677 Craghead St., DSC.SMV.org
Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History: Features art and history exhibits, special programs, and community events. 975 Main St., DanvilleMuseum.org
Danville National Cemetery: Established in 1866, the majority of original interments died as Union POWs. 721 Lee St.
For more, check out Visit SoSi’s Visitor Guide here.
Read the original article here (Michael Upton, Virginia Living Magazine, February 2026)