The ten two-story brick buildings on this block typify early-twentieth-century commercial development in downtown Galax. The regularity of standardized narrow town lots, a common material (here brick), and facades with first-floor storefronts and four-bay second stories topped by parapets create a cohesive and unified block. Two buildings in the block are of special interest. The former Vass Kapp Hardware Building (1906; W. Grayson at S. Main Street) features arched second-story windows and a canted corner entrance with a column supporting the second floor. The Mountain Loan Building (1925; 117 W. Grayson) is distinctive for its use of buff-colored glazed brick, a segmental-arched entrance and display window, prism-glass transoms, and a heavily corbeled brick cornice. Around the corner at 201 S. Main, the Alderman Building (1945) is unusual for its use of rough-faced stone facing rather than the brick that is more typically employed in Galax.