Noel C. Taylor
Noel Calvin Taylor was the mayor of Roanoke, Virginia from 1975 to 1992. He was widely considered one of the most influential leaders in the city's history.
Prior to becoming mayor, he was a leader in Roanoke's African American community and helped facilitate the city's peaceful desegregation in the late 1960s. A Republican, he was elected mayor in 1976, after having been appointed to complete the term of Roy L. Webber after his death in 1975. His lengthy tenure saw many changes in Roanoke such as the revitalization of the downtown city market area and the opening of Valley View Mall.
Taylor was pastor of High Street Baptist Church in the northwest section of Roanoke from 1961 until his death in 1999.
Roanoke's city hall, the Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building, and the Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy, a combined middle school and high school, were each named in his honor.
