Above the mantlepiece of an Italian black-marble fireplace, hangs one of the original murals of the hotel. Painted on canvas, this mural shows “a stylized birds-eye view of Roanoke” However, not much is known about this mural besides the fact that it is dated from 1938. (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke 8).

Background
Hotel Roanoke’s National Register of Historic Places Registration Form documents the hotel's renovations that took place through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. “The expansion of Hotel Roanoke during the late nineteenth century reflected the economic success of the Norfolk & Western railroad and the boom town prosperity of the city that headquartered that major steel rail era line.” Both the Northeast Wing and West Wing were developed from this initiative, in the midst of the great depression. The West Wing, replacing “the 1890/1898 west or main wing,” was built by 1938 whereas the Northeast Wing was in 1931, which replaced the “the 1882 frame annex” that was there since 1916. In contrast to the Northeast Wing,which was described as representing “architectural continuity, civic pride, and interest in automobile tourism,” the West Wing was promoted as an “architecturally significant modern version of an old English inn.” George B. Post & Sons was the firm in charge of the 1938 renovations design of the West Wing, and selected the “‘Georgian design’ of the Main Dining room, now the Regency Dining Room; the Palm Court, now the Oval Room: and the Grand Ballroom.” They also included the new Peacock Alley and the Lobby within the hotel’s new wing. The firm chose “consultants of national stature to furnish and decorate the interior public spaces of the hotel: furnishings by Marshal Field and Company of Chicago; decorating of special rooms by Rambusch Decorating Company of New York City.” They also selected artist Hugo Ohlms to paint the nine murals in the Lobby. Certain parts of the West Wing have been renovated since then, but most of its architectural integrity remains.

Sourced from:
"National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke," United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, 8 Nov. 1995, www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/128-0025_Hotel_Roanoke_1996_Final_Nomination.pdf.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke

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