Raine Hall

What happened to the Raine family home in Danville? Is it still there?

The family story, passed down to me from my grandmother, Betty Wilson Gee, is that the family donated the home to Averett College where it became a part of the campus, Raine Hall.

That story, while not true, is a rose-colored reflection of what actually happened. It also hides the pain the family must have felt as they tried to hang on to the only home the family had known in the face of illness and financial ruin.

Charles Anderson Raine and wife Betty had a large family of 11 surviving children. The family home at 107 South Main Street must have been full and lively. I don’t know the stories of all of the children’s lives yet but they seemed to have been an interesting bunch with varied interests including art, history and music.

The part of South Main Street where the Raine family lived would have been quite busy. Literally across the street from the Raine home stood the imposing Mount Vernon Methodist Church (completed in 1886) on a triangular lot at a Y intersection where Main Street diverges into South and West Main. The Raines attended First Presbyterian, a short walk east down Main Street. Two lots down from the Raine home, on South Main, stood a residential women’s preparatory school, Danville College for Young Ladies (construction began in 1883), which changed names several times during its history but ultimately became Stratford College.

I like to try to imagine how it would have sounded there in the late 1800s. The click clack of horses’ hooves on the cobbled street, the whir of the electric motors in the streetcars that plied the tracks on Main Street, bells from the church across the street ringing, and the sounds of the young ladies on the nearby campus were certainly part of the soundscape.

In 1871 Charles Anderson Raine was working for a mercantile business in Danville, Hickson and Lynch. Three years later in 1874 he began his first and ultimately unsuccessful foray into the tobacco manufacturing business, finding success after 1878. In 1872 C.A. Raine bought the lot on Main Street where the family home was built for $250. The lot likely stood empty for several years as the family saved to build the home.

The lots in this area were fairly narrow but long,  the Raine lot went back 300 feet, with most houses being fairly close to the street.  The Raine home was modest in appearance when compared to the homes just two blocks further down Main Street on what is now known as Millionaire’s Row, a stunning row of Victorian mansions in several styles, including Sutherlin Mansion, considered the last White House of the Confederacy. The Raine home was built in the Italianate farmhouse style, popular from the 1850s to 1880s. Key elements are the narrow, arched windows and decorative bracketing that supports the overhanging eaves. According to the Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. map of 1899, the Raine house was a two-story, wood-frame home with a basement and slate roof.

In 1892, gravely ill with tuberculosis, Charles Anderson Raine sold two-thirds of his tobacco manufacturing business to two partners. By 1893 partner George N. Wilson  managed C.A. Raine & Co. Two years later in 1895 the business failed and the family’s assets were handed over to pay back its share of the firm’s debts. Wilson declared bankruptcy and moved to Texas.

In 1896, the home at 107 South Main Street was put up for public auction for debt related to the business. Betty Raine bought the house back at auction for $1,250. Charles Anderson Raine died in 1902. Betty remained in the home until her death in 1927. Her will stipulated that the home should be sold and the proceeds split between her many children.

The home passed to other owners but was bought by Stratford College in 1958. Stratford, which operated a junior college and preparatory school needed to create space for its growing student body. The home became a dormitory and by 1964 it was home to Stratford College’s music department.

Stratford named its new building Raine Hall. The relationship between Stratford and the Raine family was longstanding. Charles Anderson and Betty Raine were among the prosperous citizens of Danville who helped the struggling school relocate to South Main Street. When C.A. Raine faced financial ruin, among his assets was a share of stock from Danville College for Young Ladies, Stratford’s predecessor institution. There is no direct record of how Raine Hall was named but other new buildings at this time were named by the alumnae organization. Certainly, fond memories of the Raine family next door played a part in the new name.

When Stratford College closed in 1974, the entire campus was purchased by Danville Memorial Hospital, now Sovah Health-Danville. Since at least 1990 the charming Stratford campus became a retirement community and is now Commonwealth Senior Living at Stratford House. The distinctive administration building, Old Main, still stands, as does the imposing church across the street, and the stately Kennedy Hall next door. Sadly, the Raine home no longer exists. It was demolished, likely in the 1980s, and a parking lot is all that is left of the home that Charles Anderson and Betty Raine built for their family.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Clara Fountain, Danville historian and retired Averett College librarian who made this post possible by finding and sharing the only known photo of the Raine home. Also, thanks to Vincent Brooks, Library of Virginia, for sharing his knowledge of architectural history.

Sources:

“Art Exhibit Slated Today at Stratford.” Danville Register and Bee, Danville, Va., 23 Feb. 1964, pg. 11. Newspapers.com.

Beers, F. W. (Frederick W.). Topographical Map of Danville Pittsylvania Co., From Actual Surveys and Records. F. W. Beers & Co, 1877. Accessed online at https://library.virginia.edu/

“Danville Tobacco Firm Assigns.” The Western Sentinel, Winston-Salem, N.C. 21 Nov. 1895. https://www.loc.gov/collections/chronicling-america/

Deed, C.A. Raine from Andrew J. Hughes and wife, Deed Book E, Danville (City),16 Sept. 1872, pg. 527.

Deed of Bargain and Sale, Bettie C. Raine from P.H. Boisseau Trustee, Deed Book 50, Danville (City), 4 May 1897, pg. 15.

Deed of Trust, P.H. Boisseau Trustee from C.A. Raine and wife, Deed Book 45, Danville (City), 14 Nov. 1895, pg. 279.

Hall, Alvin L. The History of Stratford Hall,  Womack Press, Danville, VA, 1974.

Last will and testament of Betty C. Raine, Will Book D, Danville (City), filed 15 March 1927, pgs. 210-211.

“Mrs. C.A. Raine Passes Away at Ripe Age.” The Bee, Danville, Va., 14 Feb. 1927, pg. 1. Newspapers.com

“Private School Enrollment Rising Sharply.” The Bee, Danville, Va., 30 July 1958, pg. 1. Newspapers.com.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Danville, Independent Cities, Virginia. Sanborn Map Company, July 1899. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/sanborn09010_004/>.

“Zoning Board of Appeals Public Hearing.” The Bee, Danville, Va. 16 Aug. 1958, pg. 10. Newspapers.com