61 VERY SHORT STORIES - Historic Markers

61 VERY SHORT STORIES

AS TOLD BY

Historic

Markers

OF LYNCHBURG

VIRGINIA

lynchburgva.org

LANGHORNE ROAD

CAMPBELL AVE.

OLD FOREST ROAD

LANGHORNE ROAD

MEMORIAL AVE.

FIFTH ST.

PARK AVE.

FORT AVE.

EXPRESSWAY

OLD FOREST ROAD

LAKESIDE DRIVE

LINK ROAD

RIVERMONT AVE.

BOONSBORO RD.

BUS.

163

501

221

460

25 26

15 16

JEFFERSON

COMMERCE

MAIN

COURT

RIVERMONT

AVE.

MADISON

POLK

MONROE

GRACE

TAYLOR

WISE

FLOYD

FILLMORE

PIERCE

BUCHANAN

WASHINGTON

PARK AVE.

CHURCH

CLAY

MADISON

HARRISON

FEDERAL

JACKSON

4TH

3RD

2ND

1ST

8TH

9TH

10TH

11TH

12TH

7TH

6TH

5TH

KEMPER

PARK AVE.

CAMPBELL AVE.

1 Shoeless Wonders Football Team

2 Morris Stanley Alexander

3 Defense Works

4 Randolph-Macon Woman’s College

5 Pearl S. Buck

6 Safe Haven in Lynchburg: Project Y

7 Miller-Claytor House

8 Inner Defenses 1864

9 James Rives Childs

10 Point of Honor

11 Locust Thicket

12 Fort McCausland

13 Lucille Chan Kent

14 Mustered and Disbanded 1861–1865

15 Dr. Robert Withers Morgan

16 Georgia Weston Morgan

17 Lynchburg College

18 Fort Early

19 Helen Pesci Wood

20 Sandusky

21 Quaker Meeting House

22 Samuel Miller

23 Ota Benga

24 Virginia University of Lynchburg

25 Desmond Thomas Doss

26 Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute

27 Chestnut Hill

28 Lynchburg Defenses

29 Megginson Rosenwald School

30 Montview

54 Camp Davis

55 C. W. Seay

56 Amelia Perry Pride’s Dorchester Home

57 Chauncey E. Spencer, Sr.

58 The Anne Spencer House

59 Dr. Robert Walter Johnson

60 Professor Frank Trigg

61 Pauline Weeden Maloney

31 Luke Jordan, Blues Pioneer

32 Lucile Barrow Turner

33 Nuclear Ship Savannah

34 The Academy of Music

35 Allen Weir Freeman, M.D.

36 Douglas Southall Freeman

37 Carter Glass

38 Lynchburg

39 Federal Transient Bureau Fire

40 Cary Devall Langhorne

41 Samuel D. Rockenbach

42 John Daniel’s Home

43 Rosalie Slaughter Morton, M.D.

44 Court Street Baptist Church

45 Abram F. Biggers and Biggers Sch.

46 Jacob E. Yoder

47 Old City Cemetery

48 Inner Defences

49 Inner Defenses

50 Virginia Teachers Association

51 Paul Laurence Dunbar HS

52 Diamond Hill Baptist Church

53 Inner Defenses 1864

DOWNTOWN KEY

LYNCHBURG KEY

PIERCE STREET KEY

JEFFERSON

COMMERCE

MAIN

COURT

RIVERMONT

AVE.

MADISON

POLK

MONROEMONROE

GRACE

TAYLOR

WISE

FLOYD

FILLMORE

PIERCE

BUCHANAN

WASHINGTON

PARK AVE.

CHURCH

CLAY

MADISON

HARRISON

FEDERAL

JACKSON

4TH

3RD

2ND

1ST

8TH

9TH

10TH

11TH

12TH

7TH

6TH

5TH

KEMPER

PARK AVE.

163

CAMPBELL AVE.

BUS.

35 36

DOWNTOWN

PIERCE STREET

Sports

Arts and Entertainment

Lynchburg History

African American History

Women

Civil War History

CATEGORIES

61 very short stories of the history of Lynchburg,

as told through historic markers approved by the

Virginia Department of Historic Resources

Here is a fun way to learn more about Lynchburg’s storied

past. Lynchburg has an unusually large number of Virginia

historical highway markers—those familiar silver-and-

black signs on posts, installed near busy streets and on

many highways. Each tells a story in 50to 100 words about

a person, place, or event signicant to Lynchburg’s history.

These markers are the result of private citizens or groups

in an eort to preserve the precious moments of history

important to the fabric of the community in which they

live. These advocates conducted all research and provided

all documentation of their subject necessary for approval

by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.* These

individuals or groups paid for their marker’s fabrication

and installation.

Other important guidelines for historic markers include:

the person, place, or event must have reached its period

of signicance at least 50 years ago. In addition, the

signicance must reach beyond Central Virginia or have

made an impact statewide or nationally. Having only local

importance is not sucient to qualify for a marker.

The markers assembled in this brochure can be divided

into categories of interest: Sports, Civil War History, Arts

and Entertainment, General Lynchburg History, African

American History, and Women. Some subjects t

comfortably into more than one category.

Have fun as you explore our city and learn more about

the citizens and special places that have helped make

Lynchburg the vibrant city it is today.

*For additional information about Virginia’s Historic Marker program, contact:

The Department of Historic Resources

2801 Kensington Avenue, Richmond, VA 23221

(804) 482-6089

“e living owe it to those who no longer

can speak to tell their story for them.”

—Czesław Miłosz

At present there are more than 2,700 historic markers in Virginia.

When the program began in 1927 it identied sites associated with

the Civil War, Revolutionary War, and America’s Founding Fathers.

Today, the Commonwealth of Virginia has moved toward a more

inclusive program by recognizing important American Indian, African

American, and female individuals, thus reecting a more diverse view

of Virginia history. Lynchburg is a good example of this diversity and

has been recognized statewide for its leadership.

The Lynchburg markers in this booklet have identifying

color codes:

Women: Markers revealing the accomplishments of Lynchburg

women in a variety of elds such as entertainment and the arts,

social and humanitarian work, education, and service to our country.

African American History: Markers reecting the

accomplishments of African Americans in the elds of education,

the arts and social activism. Of particular interest are markers on the

three blocks of Pierce Street from 12th to 15th Streets, which is also

designated as the “Pierce Street Renaissance Historic District,” where

there are more markers concentrated than any other town or city in

Virginia.

Sports Accomplishments: Markers noting signicant

accomplishments in football, tennis, and golf, with exceptional

coaches and the athletes sharing the spotlight.

Civil War History: Markers showing the lines of defenses during

the war when Union troops were threatening to invade the city.

Most revolve around the hospital system that evolved to care for the

numerous soldiers, sick and wounded, who were brought here by

railroad from battles elsewhere in the state. These were some of the

rst markers to be erected in Lynchburg.

Arts and Entertainment: Markers revealing the people in those

elds and the newly restored historic Academy of Music Theatre at

the Academy Center of the Arts.

General Lynchburg History: Markers for the many people, places,

or events that do not t into any of the other category. These can be

community leaders, places where something important happened,

or a site that is a visitor destination today in its own right.

A number of markers t into more than one category and thus have

a multicolored dot beside the title.

1 Shoeless Wonders Football Team

Peakland Place at Linden Avenue

The nearby Presbyterian Orphans Home elded its rst

football team by 1922. The players, boys under the age

of 18, received minimal coaching, wore second hand

uniforms, and soon began competing without shoes,

except for a boot used during kickos. In 1926, news

reports about the Shoeless Wonders propelled the

team to national fame. The New York Times, Univer-

sal pictures newsreels and a Ripley’s Believe It or Not

cartoon featured the squad, which was undefeated for

at least six straight seasons before 1931 and held op-

ponents scoreless for at least ve of those years. Later

teams won consistently in the city league and against

opponents from other Virginia localities.Q-6-48

2 Morris Stanley Alexander (1891 – 1977)

3409 Rivermont Avenue

Morris Alexander was the rst caddymaster and a

longtime golf professional at Oakwood Country Club,

which opened here in 1914. For more than 50 years,

this African American golfer taught fundamentals and

golf etiquette at the club which was all white during

the segregation era. Alexander tied the course record

in 1928, earning national atten-

tion in the black press. The Morris

Alexander Junior Golf Tourna-

ment attracted young golfers to

the course during the 1950s; four

of Alexander’s students later won

Virginia state championships and

two were United States and Brit-

ish Amateur Champions.Q-6-52

3 Defense Works Rivermont Ave. & Langhorne Rd.

On the crest of the hill just to the south was a redoubt

forming part of the defenses thrown up by General D.

H. Hill, June, 1864. These works were held by General

Imboden’s cavalry. A military road was constructed to

connect this point with Fort McCausland. Signs of this

road may still be seen in old Rivermont Park. Q-6-5

4 Randolph-Macon Woman’s College 2500 Rivermont Avenue

Founded by Dr. William Waugh Smith in 1891 and

opened in 1893 as a member of the Randolph-Macon

System of Educational Institutions, this Liberal Arts College

has been recognized from its opening year for its high

standards of scholarship. The scenic campus of 100 acres

extends to the James River. Q-6-14

5 Pearl S. Buck 2615 Rivermont Ave.

Internationally known author and humanitarian Pearl

Sydenstricker Buck (1892-1973) graduated in 1914

from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, where she

wrote for the college’s literary magazine. She was the

author of more than 70 books, many of which were

best sellers. In 1932, Buck received the Pulitzer Prize

for the widely read novel The Good Earth. In 1938 she

became the rst United States woman to receive the

Nobel Prize for literature. At the time of Buck’s death,

she was one of the most widely translated United

States writers. In 1941, Buck was a founder of the East

and West Association, dedicated to cultural exchange

between the United States and Asia. Q-6-22

6 Safe Haven in Lynchburg: Project Y Rivermont Ave. & Quinlan St.

In 1951, the National Gallery of Art established a se-

cret emergency repository (Code named Project Y)

for its distinguished collection of art on the campus

of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. The specially

designed reinforced concrete building, situated at the

end of Quinlan Street, was built for use in the event

of national crisis during the Cold War. In exchange for

ownership and use of the facility, the college made it

available to the National Gallery for 50 years for emer-

gency purposes. The A.

W. Mellon Educational

and Charitable Trust

nanced its construc-

tion. The building is

now the home of the

college’s Maier Muse-

um of Art. Q-6-24

7 Miller-Claytor House 2200 Miller Claytor Lane

This building formerly stood at Eighth and Church

streets. It now stands one block north. It was built

by John Miller about 1791. Thomas Wiatt bought the

house, long known as the “Mansion House.” Samu-

el Claytor purchased it in 1825. For many years doc-

tors’ oces were here. For ninety years the house was

owned by the Page family. The Lynchburg Historical

Society moved and restored it. Q-6-10

8 Inner Defenses 1864 Rivermont Ave., north of Byrd St.

A line of shallow entrenchments extended from near

this point along the crest of the hill to the east. These

works were occupied by the cadets of the Virginia

Military Institute, who had marched here with Gen-

eral Breckinridge after the Institute at Lexington was

burned by General Hunter. Q-6-7

9 James Rives Childs (1893-1987) 911 Rivermont Ave.

Diplomat and author J. Rives

Childs lived here in his youth.

During World War I, he served in

the U. S . Army as a code breaker

in France. After working for the

American Relief Administration in

the Balkans and the Soviet Union,

he began a 30 year diplomatic ca-

reer in 1923. During World War II,

as chargé d’aaires at the Ameri-

can Legation in Tangier, Morocco, Childs helped 1,200

Hungarian Jews obtain entry visas for Spanish Moroc-

co and escape the Holocaust. He received the Medal

of Freedom in 1946. Childs was later U. S. ambassador

to Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia. He wrote the textbook

American Foreign Service (1948) and was an author-

ity on 18th-century scholar and adventurer Giacomo

Casanova. Q-6-47

10 Point of Honor Rivermont & Victoria Ave.

Point of Honor stands half a mile to the northeast. Built

for Dr. George Cabell Sr. in 1815, this rened Federal-style

house is stylistically linked to dwellings in Richmond

such as the Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House. According to

local tradition, duels were fought on the property. Ca-

bell owned the 750-acre plantation on which the house

stands, as

well as a

nearby to-

bacco ware-

house. Point

of Honor

retains most

of its original

architectural

features and

after its res-

toration the

house was

opened to

the public

as a muse-

um in 1977.

L-23

11 Locust Thicket 2627 Old Forest Road

Maj. Samuel Scott (1754-1822), a Revolutionary War of-

cer, bought land here in 1786 and established Locust

Thicket, one of several plantations he owned nearby.

About 30 enslaved African Americans labored on his

properties. The existing house was likely built in the

1830s. During the Battle of Lynchburg, 17-18 June 1864,

Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. Alfred Dué engaged

Confederates under Brig. Gen. John McCausland near

here, leaving the house scarred. Among those buried in

the Locust Thicket cemetery are Maj. Samuel Scott and

his wife, Ann, their son Beverly Roy Scott, who served in

the War of 1812, a Union cavalryman killed during the

Battle of Lynchburg, and a Confederate veteran. Q-6-45

12 Fort McCausland Langhorne Rd. between Clifton & Hill Sts.

The fort on the hill here

was constructed by

General J. A. Early to

protect the approach

to Lynchburg from the

west. Union cavalry

skirmished with the

Confederates along the

road immediately west

of the fort. The Un-

ionists, driven back by

General McCausland,

were unable to enter

the city from this direc-

tion. Q-6-2

13 Lucille Chan Kent (1908-1997) 2211 Memorial Ave.

Lucille Kent, born near

here, was among the rst

Virginia women to earn

an instructor’s rating in

aeronautics. In 1939 she

began teaching mete-

orology, navigation, and

civil air regulations at

E. C. Glass High School.

During World War II, she

was ground school direc-

tor for the Civilian Pilot

Training Program (later

War Training Service) in

Lynchburg and instruct-

ed about 2,000 future

military pilots at Lynch-

burg College, in commandeered facilities at the Mill-

er Home for Girls, and at Preston Glenn Airport. After

qualifying as an instructor on the Link Trainer, a ight

simulator, Kent taught pilots how to navigate using in-

struments. She later wrote a comprehensive aeronaut-

ics manual. Q-6-37

14 Mustered and Disbanded 1861-1865 Park Ave. at Park La.

At this point the Second Virginia Cavalry was mustered

into service, May 10, 1861. At the same place the rem-

nant of this regiment was disbanded, April 10, 1865,

completing a service of four years lacking one month.

The regiment participated in many campaigns and en-

gagements. Q-6-6

15 Dr. Robert Withers Morgan (1844-1904) 1900 Memorial Ave.

Dental innovator Dr.

Robert W. Morgan lived

here. Troubled by the

lack of dental care for

soldiers while he served

in the Confederate

army, he studied den-

tistry after the war. Dur-

ing the 1880s he formu-

lated dental hygiene

products including

Dental Chewing Gum,

Dental Chewing Tobac-

co, and Dental Scotch

Snu, which were man-

ufactured in Lynchburg.

Working with Rep. Peter

Otey, Morgan drafted preliminary legislation that was

the basis for congressional approval in 1901 of the rst

contract dentists to serve the U.S. Army. He was one of

three members appointed to the Army’s rst Board of

Dental Examiners. Q-6-32

16 Georgia Weston Morgan (1869-1951) 1900 Memorial Ave.

Artist and educa-

tor Georgia Morgan

studied painting at

Randolph-Macon

Woman’s College and

at the Académie Ju-

lian in Paris. She was

a co-founder of the

Lynchburg Civic Art

League in 1932 and helped establish the city’s Federal

Art Gallery, a Works Progress Administration project, in

1936. Both groups promoted arts education and exhi-

bition for people of all socio-economic backgrounds.

She chaired the art department at Lynchburg College

for 30 years and was elected to the National Associa-

tion of Women Painters and Sculptors. Her work, pri-

marily miniatures and landscapes, was exhibited at the

Paris Salon and in galleries from Maine to Florida. Q-6-33

17 Lynchburg College Lakeside Dr. between Hopwood and College Dr.

Lynchburg College was founded in 1903 as Virgin-

ia Christian College by Dr. Josephus Hopwood and a

group of Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) clergy-

men and lay leaders. It is one of the earliest colleges in

Virginia to be founded as a coeducational institution.

Its name was changed to Lynchburg College in 1919.

The former Westover Hotel served as the college’s orig-

inal building. Renamed Westover Hall, it was disman-

tled in 1970. Hopwood Hall, designed in the Classical

Revival style by architect Edward G. Frye and complet-

ed in 1909, is the oldest classroom building on campus

and is still in use. Q-6-13

18 Fort Early 3511 Memorial Avenue

Named for Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, this

roughly square earthen redoubt served as a part of

the outer line of defense for Lynchburg in June 1864.

Fort Early and the outer fortications were constructed

to provide additional protection for the vital railroad

facilities in Lynchburg threatened by Union Maj. Gen.

David Hunter’s troops after Early arrived on 17 June. On

18 June, Hunter advanced his troops towards Confed-

erate positions, while Union artillery bombarded Fort

Early and other Confederate fortications. After a num-

ber of unsuccessful assaults during the day, Hunter or-

dered a retreat that night. His troops withdrew to the

southwest toward present-day Roanoke. Q-6-1

19 Helen Pesci Wood (1911-1964) 3766 Fort Ave.

Helen Pesci Wood, operatic

soprano and arts educator,

was born in Chicago and lived

near here for many years. She

began performing profession-

ally in the 1940s. Over the next

two decades, she appeared at

Carnegie Hall and the Brook-

lyn Academy of Music in New

York, Her Majesty’s Theatre in

Montreal, and on the Chicago

Theater of the Air. From 1950 to 1964 she was a soloist

at the Colonial Williamsburg Governor’s Palace Can-

dlelight Concerts. Wood taught voice at Lynchburg

College and, in 1952, she organized the Virginia Grass

Roots Opera, a troupe that traveled thousands of miles

and brought the art form to communities throughout

Virginia. Q-6-42

20 Sandusky (757 Sandusky Drive) 5810 Fort Ave.

To the northwest is Sandusky, built by Charles Johnston

about 1808. He named it after a place in Ohio where

Indians had held him prisoner in 1790. The two-story

structure was one of the Lynchburg area’s rst houses

to display the details and renement of high-style Fed-

eral architecture. In 1864, during the Battle of Lynch-

burg, Sandusky served as headquarters for Union Maj.

Gen. David Hunter. Future presidents Rutherford B.

Hayes and William McKinley served on Hunter’s sta.

Hunter had been a West Point classmate of Confeder-

ate Maj. George C. Hutter, who owned Sandusky at the

time of the Union occupation. L-22

21 Quaker Meeting House 5810 Fort Ave.

In the mid-18th century, members of the Religious

Society of Friends (Quakers) settled in the Lynchburg

area, initially worshiping in one another’s houses. Ac-

cording to local tradition, the rst meetinghouse was

constructed here of logs in 1757 and enlarged in 1763.

In 1768 it burned and the next year a frame church was

built. It stood until 1792, when construction began

on a stone meetinghouse completed in 1798. It de-

teriorated after 1835 as many Quakers, who opposed

slavery, emigrated from Lynchburg and Virginia to free

states. The meetinghouse was restored in the 20th

century as the Quak-

er Memorial Presby-

terian Church. John

Lynch, the founder

of Lynchburg, and

his mother, Sarah

Lynch, are buried in

the adjacent ceme-

tery. L-20

22 Samuel Miller (1792-1869) Richland Dr. near Brookville La.

Samuel Miller, born in

poverty in Albemarle

County, became a suc-

cessful Lynchburg tobac-

co merchant as a young

adult. Investments in

land, bonds, banks, and

railroads later made him

one of antebellum Vir-

ginia’s wealthiest men.

Though reclusive and

frugal in his personal life,

he was a generous phi-

lanthropist. Among his beneciaries were the Universi-

ty of Virginia, the City of Lynchburg, the Miller Home of

Lynchburg for Girls, and the Miller School of Albemarle.

In June 1864 Union forces ransacked his nearby home

looking for valuables. That residence is listed on the Vir-

ginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of

Historic Places. Q-6-34

23 Ota Benga (ca. 1885-1916) Gareld Ave. at Dewitt St.

Mbye Otabenga, later

known as Ota Benga,

was born in what is now

the Democratic Republic

of the Congo. In 1904

the Rev. Samuel P. Verner,

adventurer and former

Presbyterian mission-

ary, brought Benga and

eight other Congolese

purported to be “Pyg-

mies” to be displayed at

the St. Louis World’s Fair.

Two years later the Bronx Zoo in New York exhibited

Benga in its “Monkey House” alongside an orangutan.

Outraged African American ministers secured his re-

lease from the zoo and placed him in an orphanage in

Brooklyn. In 1910 Benga was brought to Lynchburg to

attend the Virginia Theological Seminary and College.

Despondent over his inability to return to Africa, he

committed suicide in 1916. Q-6-39

24 Virginia University of Lynchburg Dewitt St. at Gareld Ave.

In 1886 the Virginia Baptist State Convention found-

ed the Lynchburg Baptist Seminary as an institution

of “self-reliance,” “racial pride,” and “faith”. It rst oered

classes in 1890 as the renamed Virginia Seminary. Under

the direction of Gregory Willis Hayes, the second presi-

dent of the college who served from 1891 to 1906, the

school became a pioneer in the eld of African Ameri-

can education. In 1900 the school was reincorporated

as the Virginia The-

ological Seminary

and College and in

1962 became the

Virginia Seminary

and College. The col-

lege was renamed

and incorporated as

Virginia University of

Lynchburg in 1996.

Among its graduates

was the poet Anne

Spencer. Q-6-15

25 Desmond Thomas Doss (1919-2006) Campbell Ave. at Mosby St.

Lynchburg native Des-

mond T. Doss grew up

nearby in the Fairview

Heights neighborhood.

A member of the Sev-

enth Day Adventist

Church and a pacist,

Doss was drafted into

the U.S. Army during

World War II but refused

to bear arms. Though

ocially labeled a conscientious objector, he consid-

ered himself a “conscientious cooperator.” Doss served

as a medic with the 77th Infantry Division on Okinawa

in the spring of 1945. On 5 May, under intense re, he

saved about 75 wounded men by lowering each one

down a cli. Later in May he was badly wounded but

gave up his place on a litter to another soldier. In Oct.

1945 Doss became the rst conscientious objector to

receive the Medal of Honor. Q-6-40

26 Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute

Seabury Ave. at Bass School

The Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute opened

here in 1893 as a branch of Morgan College in Balti-

more, Maryland. The school oered college prepa-

ration, industrial education, and teacher training to

African American students. Jackson Street Methodist

Episcopal Church in Lynchburg purchased land for

the campus and provided additional nancial support.

The Freedmen’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal

Church contributed funds for operating expenses. Af-

rican American educator Frank Trigg was the institute’s

rst principal. After a re destroyed the main building

in Dec. 1917, the school closed and its students were

transferred to Morgan College in Baltimore. Q-6-38

27 Chestnut Hill Campbell Ave. at Martin St.

Nearby stood Chestnut Hill, the

home of Charles Lynch, Sr. He

was the father of John Lynch,

the founder of Lynchburg, and

of Charles Lynch, Jr., a Revolu-

tionary ocer. Charles Lynch,

Sr., died in 1753 and is believed

to be buried at Chestnut Hill.

The wooden house was lat-

er owned by Judge Edmond

Winston and then by Henry

Langhorne, during whose oc-

cupancy it burned. Members of the Lynch family were

among the rst Quaker settlers in the area. K-146

28 Lynchburg Defenses Rte. 501, northbound, at Rte. 460 east

The earthwork on the hilltop, two hundred yards to the

east, was thrown up as a part of the system of defenses

for Lynchburg, 1861-65. The city was an important sup-

ply base and railroad center. M-60

Diving board was built into the side of the fort. All has now been demolished for highway

interchange.

29 Megginson Rosenwald School 136 Spinoza Circle

The Megginson

School was built here

ca. 1923 for African

American students

in the Pleasant Val-

ley community, then

part of Campbell

County. Albert Meg-

ginson (1831-1923),

formerly enslaved,

purchased land in this area after the Civil War and later

donated two acres for the school. The two-classroom

building was constructed with nancial support from

local African Americans, the county, and the Julius

Rosenwald Fund, which helped build more than 5,000

schools and supporting structures for black students in

the rural South between 1917 and 1932. African Ameri-

can resident Wiley Gaines purchased school buses that

transported students to this and other local segregat-

ed schools. Q-6-46

30 Montview Liberty University Dr., at University Blvd.

Montview was constructed in 1923 as the home of

Senator and former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Cart-

er Glass. Glass served in the House of Representatives

and Senate from 1902 to 1946 and was known as the

“Father of the Federal Reserve System” in recognition

of which his likeness appears on the $50,000 Treasury

note. Glass was a co-sponsor of the Glass-Steagall Act

of 1933. In 1941, he was sworn in as President Pro-Tem

of the U.S. Senate on the sun porch of Montview. L-21

31 Luke Jordan, Blues Pioneer Jeerson St. at Horseford Rd.

Singer-guitarist

Luke Jordan (1892-

1952) was a familiar

presence on the

streets of Lynchburg

from the 1920s until

World War II. Jordan

and other African

American musicians

in the Southeast

merged blues with

an existing reper-

toire of ballads, ragtime, and tent-show songs, creating

a syncopated and upbeat style now called Piedmont or

East Coast Blues. The Victor Record Company, seeking

blues artists to satisfy popular demand, recorded Jor-

dan in 1927 and 1929, issuing classics such as “Church

Bell Blues” and “Pick Poor Robin Clean.” The Great De-

pression hurt sales and ended Jordan’s career, but he

remained an important and widely imitated Virginia

blues musician. Q-6-21

32 Lucile Barrow Turner (1895-1979) near 1312 Commerce St.

’Cile Turner, a Southside Virginia native who resided near

Lynchburg, championed African American folk music

during her 50-year career as a composer, folklorist, and

performer. A white, auent, married woman, she tran-

scended social norms as she traveled throughout the

South to perform and learn work songs, dance tunes,

lullabies, and spirituals. In 1930 she gained national

recognition as star of the Craddock-Terry Shoe Com-

pany’s weekly radio

program on NBC.

She later promoted

African American folk

music through studio

recordings and tele-

vision appearances.

Her casual, engaging

manner and her re-

spectful treatment of

the music won praise

from both black and

white audiences.

Q-6-36

33 Nuclear Ship Savannah 800 Main St.

The NS Savannah was the world’s rst nuclear-powered

merchant ship. Authorized in 1956 during Pres. Dwight

D. Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace initiative, its purpose

was to demonstrate to the world the safe and peaceful

use of atomic power. The Babcock & Wilcox Company

designed Savannah’s nuclear propulsion system at its

Kemper Street oce nearby and built the system at its

Mount Athos facility four miles east of here. The ship’s

rst crew trained at Lynchburg College. From 1962

to 1970, Savannah traveled more than 450,000 miles,

stopped at 45 foreign and 32 domestic ports, and re-

ceived more than 1.5 million visitors. The ship was des-

ignated a National Historic Landmark in 1991. Q-6-51

34 The Academy of Music (1905-1958) Main at Fifth St.

The Academy of Music was a regional center of en-

tertainment early in the 20th century. Its neo-classical

facade and elaborate interior date from the rebuild-

ing following a re in 1911. The theater featured local

talent, vaudeville acts, and performances by national

and international luminaries such as Maude Adams,

Sarah Bernhardt, Eubie Blake, George M. Cohan, W.

C. Handy, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Anna Pavlova, Will

Rogers, and John Philip

Sousa. Primarily a mov-

ie house after 1928, the

Academy closed in 1958

and was vacant for dec-

ades. It was listed on

the National Register of

Historic Places in 1969

and, after restoration,

reopened in 2018 as the

theater of the Academy

Center of the Arts. Q-6-49

35 Allen Weir Freeman, M.D. (1881-1954) 400 Main St.

Born at 416 Main Street, Al-

len W. Freeman, brother of

editor and historian Doug-

las Southall Freeman, was

a pioneer in public health

administration and educa-

tion. He was educated at

the University of Richmond

and the Johns Hopkins Uni-

versity School of Medicine

in Baltimore, Md. He served

as medical inspector of the

Richmond City Health Department; rst assistant com-

missioner of health for Virginia; epidemiologist, U.S.

Public Health Service; commissioner of health for Ohio;

professor and dean, Johns Hopkins University School

of Hygiene and Public Health; president, American

Public Health Association; and consultant to several

foreign governments in developing public health pro-

grams. Q-6-16

36 Douglas Southall Freeman 400 Main St.

Born at 416 Main Street

on 16 May 1886, the son

of a Confederate vet-

eran, Douglas Southall

Freeman moved with his

family to Richmond three

years later. He graduated

from the University of

Richmond in 1904 and

earned a doctorate from

Johns Hopkins University

in 1908. Freeman subse-

quently held several posts

as an educator and editor, but he is best known as the

editor of the Richmond News Leader (1915-1949) and

as the author of Pulitzer Prize-winning biographies of

Robert E. Lee and George Washington. Freeman died

in Richmond on 13 June 1953. Q-6-17

37 Carter Glass 829 Church St.

Born January 4, 1858,

in a house which stood

on this site. Newspaper

publisher; member of the

State Senate and Dele-

gate to the State Consti-

tutional Convention of

1901-1902; member of

the United States House

of Representatives, 1902-

1918, and principal au-

thor of the Federal Reserve Act; Secretary of the Treas-

ury, 1918-1920; member of the United States Senate

from 1920 until his death in 1946. Q-6-12

38 Lynchburg Church St. at Ninth St.

(Marker front) In 1757 John Lynch opened a ferry here;

in 1765 a church was built. In 1786 Lynchburg was es-

tablished by act of assembly; in 1791 the rst tobacco

warehouse was built. Lynchburg was incorporated as

a town in 1805. In 1840 the James River and Kanawha

Canal, from Richmond to Lynchburg, was opened; the

section to Buchanan, in 1851. Lynchburg became a city

in 1852. (Marker back) Trains began running on the rst

railroad, the Virginia and Tennessee, in 1852. Lynchburg

was a main military supply center, 1862-65. Here the

Confederates under General Early defeated the Union

General Hunter, June 18, 1864. In 1893 Randolph-Ma-

con Woman’s College opened; in 1903, Lynchburg Col-

lege. In 1920 the council manager form of government

was adopted. Q-6-11

39 Federal Transient Bureau Fire

Twelfth Street between Main and Church

The deadliest

re in Lynch-

burg history

occurred here

at a Federal

Transient Bu-

reau shelter

on 24 March

1934. The Bu-

reau, opened

by the Federal

Emergency Relief Administration as part of the New

Deal, housed out-of-work men passing through town

during the Great Depression. The two-story building

was overcrowded when an early morning kitchen re

spread rapidly and claimed the lives of at least 19 in-

habitants; about 70 others were injured. The federal

government returned many bodies to their families,

but seven were buried locally in the Old City Cemetery. 

National attention was focused on Lynchburg, and fed-

eral guidelines for homeless shelters were improved as

a result of this disaster. Q-6-44

40 Cary Devall Langhorne (1873-1948) 313 Washington St

Lynchburg native Cary D. Langhorne spent his early

years here. A surgeon in the U.S. Navy, he was wound-

ed in the Philippine-American War (1899-1902). During

the Mexican Revolution, the U.S. government disput-

ed the legitimacy of Mexican Pres. Victoriano Huerta.

Clashes over a German arms shipment and the deten-

tion of American sailors led Pres. Woodrow Wilson to

order American vessels, including Langhorne’s ship

USS Vermont, to seize

the port of Veracruz. On

22 Apr. 1914, during the

ensuing battle, Lang-

horne carried a wound-

ed man to safety under

heavy re, for which he

received the Medal of

Honor. He later served

aboard a hospital ship

during World War I.

Q-6-43

Current location of Lynchburg Visitor Center

41 Samuel D. Rockenbach (1869-1952)

Brigadier General, U.S. Army Cavalry Madison and 8th Sts.

Nearby at 805 Mad-

ison Street is the

birthplace of General

Rockenbach, “Father

of the U.S. Army Tank

Corps.” He began his

education in Lynch-

burg schools and was

an honor graduate of

Virginia Military Insti-

tute in 1889. As rst

chief of the Army’s

tank corps in 1917,

he pioneered training schools and eld organization

for tank warfare in World War I. Q-6-18

42 John Daniel’s Home 702 Court Street

This Federal-style mansion was built by John Marshall

Warwick in 1826. It was the birthplace of John Warwick

Daniel, grandson of the builder, whose father was Judge

William Daniel, resident of nearby Point of Honor. John

W. Daniel was known as the “Lame Lion of Lynchburg”

due to extensive wounds suered in the Civil War. He

later served in the Virginia Assembly as both delegate

and senator and for sixteen years in the United States

Congress as congressman and senator. K-142

43 Rosalie Slaughter Morton, M.D. (1872-1968)

Seventh and Clay Streets

The childhood home of

Rosalie S. Morton, sur-

geon and public health

advocate, stood on the

present site of St. Paul’s

Episcopal Church. Mor-

ton graduated from the

Women’s Medical College

of Pennsylvania in 1897

and trained in Europe and

Asia. She led a nationwide

public-health initiative

for the American Medical

Association beginning in

1909. During World War I, Morton worked in eld hos-

pitals on the Salonika Front and was a founder of the

American Women’s Hospitals service, which opened

its rst hospital in 1918 in France. She established the

International Serbian Educational Committee in 1919.

Morton received decorations for distinguished service

from the governments of France and Serbia. Q-6-50

44 Court Street Baptist Church Sixth and Court Streets

The congregation was organized in 1843, when Lynch-

burg’s African American Baptists were separated from

First Baptist Church. The new African Baptist Church of

Lynchburg met in a converted theater. It was demol-

ished in 1879, after the deaths of eight people during

a panic caused by fear of structural collapse. Church

members provided

all the money to buy

land at Sixth and

Court Street for a

new building. Local

architect Robert C.

Burkholder designed

the church, combin-

ing the Romanesque

Revival and Second

Empire styles. It was

the largest church

building with the tall-

est spire in the city in

1880. Q-18

45 Abram Frederick Biggers & Biggers School 501 Fifth St.

Abram Frederick Biggers (1838–1879), a lawyer by pro-

fession, was appointed the rst superintendent of the

Lynchburg and Campbell County schools in 1870. As a

part of his eort to build a strong system, Biggers toured

northern states to study their schools. He is credited

with building one of the best school systems in the

state. The Lynchburg schools opened to more than 700

students segregated by race in nine rented buildings.

Biggers School, designed by August Forsburg, was the

largest in Lynchburg when it opened in 1881 with a

capaci-

ty for 305

students.

The school

served the

community

until its dem-

olition in the

autumn of

1967. Q-6-19

46 Jacob E. Yoder Jackson St. at Second St.

Jacob Eschbach Yoder (22 Feb. 1838–15 Apr. 1905),

reared a Mennonite in Pennsylvania, came to Lynch-

burg after the Civil War to teach former slaves in the

Freedmen’s Bureau’s Camp Davis School. Following

Reconstruction, Yoder served as supervising princi-

pal of Lynchburg’s African American schools for more

than 25 years and helped start the College Hill Baptist

Church Sunday school. When he died, black teachers

declared that “he had devoted his life unselshly, and

unstintingly to our race, and wore himself out in ser-

vice to us.” In 1911, the Lynchburg School Board named

the new Yoder School for blacks, which stood here, af-

ter this public school pioneer. Q-13

47 Old City Cemetery 401 Taylor Street

Old City Cemetery, also

known as the Meth-

odist Cemetery, was

established as a public

burial ground in 1806

on land donated by

John Lynch, founder of

Lynchburg. Mayors and

other prominent civic

leaders, along with the city’s indigent and “strangers,”

are among the estimated 20,000 people buried here.

Three quarters of those interred here are of African de-

scent, both enslaved and free. The cemetery’s Confed-

erate section contains the graves of more than 2,200

soldiers from 14 states. Museums on the property in-

terpret the diverse history of this rehabilitated grave-

yard and its inhabitants. The cemetery was listed on

the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Q-6-25

48 Inner Defences Fifth St. between Wise and Taylor Sts.

Near here ran the line of inner defences located by Gen.

D. H. Hill, June, 1864. He had been sent from Petersburg

by Gen. Beauregard to assist Gen. Breckinridge then in

command. On Gen. Early’s arrival, troops were moved

to the outer works. Error: Note that the name and the

rst sentence of the marker are incorrect, and should

read: Q-6-9 Inner Defenses Near here ran the line of in-

ner defenses located by Gen. D. H. Hill, June, 1864. Q-6-9

49 Inner Defenses Ninth St. at Park Ave.

Here, facing west, ran the inner defenses of the city, lo-

cated by General D. H. Hill. They were constructed by

convalescents and home guards. General Early, after an

inspection of the system, moved most of the men to

the outer works well to the westward. Q-6-8

50 Virginia Teachers Association 901 Jackson St.

African American

educators organ-

ized the Virginia

Teachers’ Reading

Circle here at the

Jackson Street

Methodist Episco-

pal Church on 13

Aug. 1887. Estab-

lished during a ses-

sion of the Peabody Normal Institute, a summer course

for teachers from across the state, the Reading Circle

provided professional development for teachers of

black students in Virginia’s public schools. James Hugo

Johnston, second president of what is now Virginia

State University, was elected to lead the organization.

Later known as the Virginia Teachers Association, the

group served black educators until it merged with the

Virginia Education Association on 1 Jan. 1967. Q-6-41

51 Paul Laurence Dunbar High School 1200 Polk St

African American community leaders petitioned

Lynchburg’s school board for a new high school to

serve black students early in the 1920s. Named for

poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, the school opened here

in 1923. Shop, home economics, and administration

buildings were later constructed. Clarence W. Seay,

principal from 1938 to 1968, recruited a dedicated fac-

ulty and expanded the curriculum. Counselor Pauline

Weeden Maloney guided many graduates to major

universities. The school’s cultural, literary, and athletic

programs made it a focal point for the African Ameri-

can community. Dunbar became a junior high school

in 1970-71, and the original building was demolished

in 1979. Q-6-35

52 Diamond Hill Baptist Church 1415 East Grace St.

Diamond Hill Baptist Church was established in 1872,

seven years after slavery was abolished. The current

church, a Gothic Revival–style building, was complet-

ed in 1886. Under the pastorate and leadership of the

Rev. Dr. Virgil A. Wood from 1958 to 1963, the church

became central to the Civil Rights movement in the

Lynchburg area as the base of operations for demon-

strations, sit-ins, and rallies seeking to end segregation.

The church also hosted speeches by notable gures in

the national Civil Rights movement. Eorts to achieve

racial equality continued under the 1964–2000 pastor-

ate of the Rev. Dr. Haywood Robinson Jr. Q-7

53 Inner Defenses 1864 Twelfth St. near Floyd St.

Here ran the inner line of Lynchburg defenses thrown

up by General D. H. Hill in June, 1864. General John C.

Breckinridge, confronting General Hunter in the She-

nandoah Valley, made a forced march to forestall Hunt-

er. Hill constructed a shallow line of trenches, occupied

by Breckinridge, and hospital convalescents and home

guards. It became a reserve line when General Early ar-

rived. Q-6-3

54 Camp Davis Pierce St. between 12th and 13th Sts.

Camp Davis, a Civil War mustering ground for Con-

federate troops from Virginia under the command of

Col. Jubal A. Early, once occupied this area. At least 130

Southern soldiers died at the camp’s own Pratt Hospital

and were buried in Lynchburg’s Old City Cemetery. The

neighborhood’s historically African American identity

took shape during Reconstruction, when Camp Davis

became an important refuge for freed slaves. Before

being annexed by the city in 1870, it was the site of

Federal military headquarters, the Freedmen’s Bureau’s

Camp Davis School, headed by Jacob Eschbach Yoder,

and a black Methodist Episcopal church. Q-6-29

55 C. W. Seay (1900-1982) 1300 Pierce St.

Clarence William “Dick” Seay, who lived here, was prin-

cipal of Dunbar High School, Lynchburg’s secondary

school for African Americans. A pioneer in the strug-

gle for equal opportunities for blacks, for 30 years Seay

shaped Dunbar High School into

a school of academic excellence,

holding that a “successful school

and its community are insepa-

rable.” He later became the rst

high school principal elected to

the presidency of the Associa-

tion of Colleges and Secondary

Schools. After his retirement in

1968, Seay taught at Lynchburg

College and served two terms as

Lynchburg’s rst black city coun-

cil member since the 1880s and

the rst black vice mayor. Q-6-28

56 Amelia Perry Pride’s Dorchester Home 1305 Pierce St.

Near this spot stood a small frame house known as

Dorchester Home or Old Folks Home for impoverished

former slave women. Established in 1897 by Hampton

Institute graduate and Lynchburg public school prin-

cipal Amelia Perry Pride (1857-1932), it provided shel-

ter, fuel, clothing, and food for its residents until their

deaths. Following Hampton Institute’s principle of up-

lifting her race through self-help, Pride was a passion-

ate advocate of African American and Virginia Indian

education. In Lynchburg, she provided scholarships for

many young women seeking higher education and es-

tablished sewing and cooking schools for women and

men entering vocational elds. Q-6-30

57 Chauncey E. Spencer, Sr. 1306 Pierce St.

Chauncey E. Spencer,

Sr., aviation pioneer and

Civil Rights activist was

born in Lynchburg on

5 Nov. 1906, the son of

poet Anne Spencer. He

moved to Chicago and

by 1934 began pursu-

ing his pilot’s license.

As a charter member of

the National Airmen’s

Association of Ameri-

ca, he and Dale L. White

in 1939 made an aeronautical tour from Chicago to

Washington, D.C., to lobby for the inclusion of African

Americans in the Army Air Corps. This included meet-

ing Senator Harry S Truman. Spencer also worked for

the U.S. Air Force and was a public servant in Michigan

and California. He lived here from 1977 until his death

on 21 Aug. 2002. Q-6-23

COURTESY OF HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

58 The Anne Spencer House 1313 Pierce St.

This was the home

of Edward Alexander

and Anne Bannister

Spencer from 1903

until her death on

July 25, 1975. Born

on February 6, 1882,

in Henry County, Va.

Anne Spencer was

to receive national

and international rec-

ognition as a poet.

Published extensively

between 1920 and

1935, she belonged to the Harlem Renaissance school

of writers. Q-6-20

59 Dr. Robert Walter Johnson (1899-1971) near 1422 Pierce St.

The desegrega-

tion of tennis was

due in large part

to the eorts of Dr.

Robert W. “Whirl-

wind” Johnson.

The rst African

American to earn

sta privileges at

Lynchburg Gen-

eral Hospital, he

also worked to

overcome barriers

keeping young

African Americans

out of tennis. As

founder of the

Junior Development Program of the American Ten-

nis Association, Johnson sponsored African-American

players from across the country in tournaments, and

coached and mentored them on backyard courts here

at his home. Among those he trained were Wimbledon

Champions Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe. Johnson

was posthumously inducted into the International

Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009. Q-6-27

60 Professor Frank Trigg (1850-1933) 1422 Pierce St.

Frank Trigg was a leading

black educator in Virginia.

He was born into slavery

in Richmond while his

parents were personal

servants of Virginia Gov-

ernor John B. Floyd. After

the Civil War he attended

Hampton Institute, and

began teaching in Abing-

don before moving to

Lynchburg in 1880. He was

a teacher and principal

here for 22 years and became the rst black supervisor

of Lynchburg’s black public schools. He was co-found-

er of the Virginia Teachers’ Association, and later was

president of colleges in Virginia, Maryland and North

Carolina. In 1926 he retired to Lynchburg and resided

here. He is buried in Old City Cemetery. Q-6-26

61 Pauline Weeden Maloney (1904-1987) 1316 Buchanan St.

Here lived Paul-

ine Maloney,

known as Lynch-

burg’s “rst lady

of education.”

A graduate of

Howard Univer-

sity, she worked

in Lynchburg

public schools

from 1937 to

1970, most no-

tably as a guid-

ance counselor

and administrator at the all-black Dunbar High School.

During the 1970s she was elected the rst black pres-

ident of both the Virginia School Boards Association

and the National School Boards Association Southern

Region. In 1977 Maloney became the rst woman rec-

tor of Norfolk State University. She served as national

president of The Links, Inc., a civic organization of Af-

rican American women, and she founded the Lynch-

burg chapter in 1950. Q-6-31

Booklet published in collaboration with:

Oce of Economic Development & Tourism of the City of Lynchburg

Lynchburg Museum System

Jane Baber White, author/compiler • George White, technical assistance

Bettye and Al Chambers • Nancy Marion, The Design Group

Start your Lynchburg history adventure at

the Lynchburg Museum, located in the Old

Court House atop Monument Terrace. The

museum has three oors of exhibits and a

research library. Admission is free.

901 Court Street

LynchburgMuseum.org

(434) 455-6226

Open daily 10–4 (Sunday 12–4)

Let us help curate your LYH experience at

the Lynchburg Visitor Center

216 12th Street, Downtown

(434) 485-7290

lynchburgvirginia.org