Gilbert's Restaurant

The Rev. Robert G. Gilbert built Gilbert’s Restaurant here ca. 1945 as a café, store, gas station, and tourist home for Black patrons during Jim Crow segregation. He and his wife, Arzelia, ran the business until 1971, after which their son and daughter-in-law operated it primarily as a restaurant until its closure in 1999. Located on US Route 29, a major artery connecting the mid-Atlantic and the Deep South, the enterprise was a regional hub for the Black community and a haven for Black travelers. Among those who stayed or dined here were Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, the Singing Siamese Twins (Yvonne and Yvette McCarther), James Earl Jones, and defense attorneys for the Martinsville Seven case.

Department of Historic Resources, 2025