Roanoke Visitor Center and Museum
Lakes Trail Region
Cowboys became notorious for blowing off steam in rambunctious – and often illegal – ways. A relic of that reputation still stands today in Roanoke. The rock building at 114 North Oak Street houses the Roanoke Visitor’s Center and Museum today, but in the 1880s it was the Silver Spur Saloon: a popular two-story watering hole and, as legend has it, a brothel. Patrons could visit the brothel covertly through a hidden door between the bank next door and the saloon. Today, the rock building is the oldest extant commercial building in the community, and houses artifacts and local legends from Roanoke’s rowdy past.