Roanoke Doll Factory
1900-1925
Ella Gannt Smith, artist, inventor, manufactured in this building the famous Roanoke Dolls. The dolls, completely handmade, featured a head molded of plaster of Paris enclosed in a tight cotton fabric cut and stuffed to resemble body, hands and legs. Facial features of each doll were hand-painted, no two being alike. At her death, April 2, 1932, Mrs. Smith held eleven patents. The factory, built by her husband, S. S. Smith, was later converted into an apartment building.
Marker is on Vaughn Street, on the left when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
