W. Virginia Street marker, renaming rules up Wednesday

The old name of Frenchtown’s main commercial street could go up on a historic marker. City staff are asking the Tallahassee City Commission on Wednesday to approve one along the stretch it renamed last month.

On Sept. 9 the commission renamed W. Virginia Street, between North Adams Street and North Copeland Street, as Drs. R.B. and Gloria P. Holmes Street. It then told staff to find a way to recognize the street’s history. The answer is on the Oct. 21 agenda as item 12.05.

The same meeting brings a staff report on how the city renames streets. It counts 13 renamings since the city took over that power in May 2024.

What staff recommend for the marker

Staff recommend one historic marker along Drs. R.B. and Gloria P. Holmes Street. It would recognize W. Virginia Street’s businesses and its role in welcoming Black residents and travelers during segregation. Staff would work with the Riley House Museum and the neighborhood on it.

The cost is listed only as the cost of installing the sign. The agenda item gives no dollar figure.

The renamed segment is about 2,777 feet long. It has 17 adjacent property owners, and the renaming changed 282 addresses, according to the item.

Why the street matters

The agenda item calls Frenchtown the oldest continuous historically African American community in Tallahassee. It says the corner of Virginia and Macomb streets was the center of its business district.

Four historical markers already stand on the street, the item says:

• Soul Voices marker No. 1, “Frenchtown Had it All,” at Virginia and Macomb streets
• Soul Voices marker No. 13, “Commerce and Community,” at Virginia Street and Rev. Jesse Jackson Street
• the National Register of Historic Places marker at the Tookes House
• the Florida Heritage Site marker at the Tookes House

The Tookes House at 412 W. Virginia St. opened as a rooming house for Black travelers in 1948, when Tallahassee’s hotels were white-only. It grew into the Tookes Hotel and later had 11 bedrooms. The agenda item says guests included Hattie McDaniel, James Brown, Lou Rawls, Duke Ellington and James Baldwin. It stayed open until the mid-1980s.

The Soul Voices Frenchtown Heritage Trail has 13 markers. The city, Leon County and the Community Redevelopment Agency approved $189,000 for the first nine in July 2018. The CRA added $64,000 for four more in January 2020, the item says.

13 streets renamed since May 2024

The commission adopted its own street renaming ordinance in May 2024. Before that, the Leon County Commission named and renamed streets inside the city as well, under a system the county adopted in 1995. The staff report, item 12.06, lists every renaming since then.

The commission started nine of the 13. Residents started three and city staff one.

The commission has also approved four honorary designations, which keep the real street name and addresses:

• E. Lilyan Spencer Memorial Way on Campbell Street
• Clausell Family Memorial Way on Alabama Street
• Maggie Lewis-Butler Honorary Roadway on Jim Lee Road
• Drs. Charles and Connie Evans Honorary Roadway on Circle Drive

How a renaming works now

The rules sit in the city’s Land Development Code. The report sets out the main points:

• The commission can rename any city-maintained street on its own motion.
• A resident or developer needs support from at least 75% of adjacent property owners before the commission will consider a request.
• The city does not rename roads maintained by Leon County or the Florida Department of Transportation.
• Names for new streets, such as in a new subdivision, still go through Leon County.
• Honorary designations do not change addresses and fall outside these steps.

The report compares 11 other cities, including Gainesville, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Savannah, Georgia. It says the two most common practices are a minimum share of owner support and honorary names as an alternative to a full renaming. Staff recommend that the commission accept the report. It proposes no change to the rules.

Also on Wednesday’s agenda

• Fire Department plan. Chief Gene Sanders presents the department’s 2026-2030 strategic plan. It sets seven goals and works toward the commission’s aim of an Insurance Services Office Class 1 rating.
• Airport. A $633,905 budget for a new FAA technical operations building at Tallahassee International Airport. Gamble & Associates Construction bid $589,679, the lowest of three.
• Power plant repair. Ratification of an emergency purchase from ProEnergy, estimated at $1,102,000, for repairs to unit HC4 at the city’s Hopkins power plant. Staff say the unit is needed for winter, when demand runs highest from December through February.
• Griffin Heights. An application for a Florida Department of Environmental Protection grant toward a $40,204 bioswale stormwater project, with a city match of $20,102.
• Rezonings introduced. A 1.37-acre property at 1755 Capital Circle Northeast, from office residential to general commercial, and a historic preservation overlay for 725 Park Avenue East. Both have public hearings set for Nov. 18.
• Public hearing at 6 p.m. A 3.75-acre site on the west side of Paul Russell Road, north of Orange Avenue, would move to a planned unit development under the Southeast Sector Plan. That plan’s medium-density district allows 4 to 20 homes an acre.

What it means for you

The meeting starts at 3 p.m. Wednesday in the City Commission Chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 300 S. Adams St. Public hearings begin at 6 p.m., the city said. The agenda and the ways to comment are at talgov.com/CitizenInput.

If you want a street in your neighborhood renamed, you need 75% of the owners along it on board first. The Sept. 9 vote changed 282 addresses on the old W. Virginia Street stretch to Drs. R.B. and Gloria P. Holmes Street.

For more on the neighborhood, see our guide to Frenchtown and Tallahassee history and landmarks. Rezoning cases are tracked on our building permits and zoning page.